Rangers at Capitals
Coming off their first regulation loss of the month, the league-leading Washington Capitals look to take out their frustrations on the visiting New York Rangers on Sunday. Washington began January with a 5-0-1 run before coming up flat in Saturday's 4-1 loss at Buffalo, as it allowed the first four goals before finally getting on the board early in the third period.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is among the league leaders with 26 goals but has been held in check in his last two games after netting five tallies over his previous three contests. New York looks to put together consecutive wins for the first time since Nov. 21 and 23 after edging Philadelphia in a shootout on Saturday to improve to 1-1-0 on its three-game road trip. Henrik Lundqvist could get the day off after becoming the first goaltender in NHL history to begin his career with 11 straight 20-win seasons with the triumph over the Flyers. The first three contests of the five-game season series between the Metropolitan Division rivals took place in New York, with Washington winning two.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, NHL Network, TVA, MSG (New York), CSN-DC (Washington)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (24-15-5): Saturday's victory provided Lundqvist with several more honors, as he snapped a tie with Mike Richter to set the franchise record for most 20-win seasons. The 33-year-old Swede also joined Tony Esposito and Martin Brodeur as the only netminders in NHL history to post 11 consecutive 20-win campaigns. Mats Zuccarello is the franchise leader in game-deciding shootout goals after scoring the seventh of his career to snap a tie with Brendan Shanahan.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (33-8-3): Braden Holtby took the loss Saturday, leaving him one short of Jose Theodore's franchise record of 23 decisions without a regulation defeat. The 26-year-old Holtby, who leads the league with 28 victories, went 20-0-2 after a 1-0 setback at Detroit on Nov. 10. Mike Richards made his debut for Washington on Saturday, recording one shot while going 5-6 on faceoffs in 13 minutes, 1 second of ice time.
OVERTIME
1. The Rangers are 52-1-1 when leading after two periods since the start of last season.
2. Washington LW Marcus Johansson has collected 12 points (six goals) over his last 12 games.
3. New York is 29-7-5 in its last 41 games against division rivals.