Capitals 5, Rangers 2
WASHINGTON -- Washington Capitals right winger Justin Williams had a hat trick, left winger Alex Ovechkin notched his 27th goal of the season and the Capitals defeated the New York Rangers 5-2 on Sunday.
Left winger Marcus Johansson also scored for Washington, which won its 12th straight home game, tops in the NHL this season.
Williams' second goal of the game, a tip-in at 4:51 of the third period, made it 4-2, and he added an empty-netter with 1:51 left.
Washington goalie Braden Holtby left late in the second period due to dehydration. He stopped 20 of 22 shots. Philipp Grubauer relieved him and made 11 saves.
New York left winger Chris Kreider scored twice.
The Capitals (34-8-3), who lost at Buffalo Saturday night, improved to 10-0-1 following losses. They are the only team yet to suffer back-to-back regulation defeats.
Rangers' goalie Antti Raanta, in his first start since Dec. 17, had 19 saves.
The Rangers (24-16-5) have not won consecutive games since Nov. 21-23.
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when defenseman Ryan McDonagh's shot from the point was deflected past Holtby by Kreider.
Washington got the equalizer on its second power-play chance of the period when Ovechkin got the puck in the left circle, skated around a defender to create an opening, and wristed a shot between Raanta's legs with 1:59 remaining.
A stellar effort by Raanta with just over a minute left kept the score tied. Newly signed center Mike Richards, playing his second game for Washington, deflected a shot and the puck appeared headed in. But Raanta got a piece of it and the puck slid across the crease just in front of the goal line.
Washington broke the 1-1 tie with two goals early in the second period.
On a power play, center Nicklas Backstrom, set up the right circle, sent a precision pass to Johansson to the left of Raanta, and Johansson tipped it home for his 12th of the season.
Sixty-two seconds later defenseman Taylor Chorney's blast from the point deflected off Williams into the net to make it 3-1.
Kreider picked up his second goal with 2:32 left in the period when he got to a loose puck in the slot and fired past Holtby for his ninth of the season.
During the next play stoppage Holtby skated to the Capitals bench, talked briefly with the team trainer, then went to the dressing room.
NOTES: The Capitals led the season series 2-1 entering Sunday. The teams' final regular-season meeting is March 4 in Washington. ... Rangers LW Rick Nash has gone seven straight games without a goal. He did have an assist Sunday. ... Washington C Nicklas Backstrom came in having scored nine points (three goals, six assists) in his last eight games. He added an assist Sunday. ... The Capitals' franchise-record home winning streak was a 13-game run from Jan. 5-March 6, 2010. ... Rangers D Kevin Klein, who left Saturday's game at Philadelphia with a right thumb injury, was out, and C Jayson Megna was also scratched. ... D Ryan Stanton, C Zach Sill, and C Michael Latta were Washington's scratches.