Capitals 2, Senators 1
WASHINGTON -- Fueled by another fantastic effort between the pipes from goaltender Braden Holtby, the Washington Capitals continued their franchise-best start Wednesday with a 2-1 triumph over the Ottawa Senators.
Holtby turned away 26 shots, including several highlight-reel stops in the second period, to improve to 12-0-1 in his last 13 games and pick up his league-leading 20th victory of the season. The Eastern Conference-leading Capitals continued their dominance of the Atlantic Division, now having earned points in 27 of their last 29 games against those teams.
The Senators made things interesting late due to a match penalty called on Washington right winger Tom Wilson with 4:40 remaining in the third period. Just 24 seconds later, right winger Bobby Ryan ended Holtby's shutout bid with his 10th goal of the season, but Ottawa could not find the equalizer.
Fourth-line center Michael Latta got the Capitals on the board in the first period, snagging a high, arcing flip pass from defenseman Dmitry Orlov and beating Ottawa goaltender Andrew Hammond up top for his second goal of the season. The Capitals are now 10-0-0 when leading after the opening frame.
Defenseman John Carlson extended Washington's lead in the second period, taking a perfect feed from right winger Justin Williams, who had just drawn a penalty, and blasting it past Hammond at the 5:43 mark of the period for his sixth tally.
Hammond was making just his fifth start of the season, and his first since Nov. 12, due to a concussion. He took a shot directly to his mask less than three minutes into the contest, but finished with 23 saves while taking just the second regulation loss of his brief, but memorable, career.
Ottawa has dropped three of its last four games, while Washington has captured three straight.
NOTES: The Capitals announced that they will play host to two World Cup of Hockey exhibition games at Verizon Center next September. The U.S. team will face Finland on Sept. 13 and Sweden will play Team Europe on Sept. 14. ... With the exception of Andrew Hammond starting in place of G Craig Anderson, the Senators retained the same lineup from their last game, with LW Shane Prince as the lone scratch. ... C Michael Latta returned to the Capitals' lineup, replacing RW Stanislav Galiev, who joined D Aaron Ness and RW Chris Brown as scratches. ... RW Mark Stone was the fourth fastest to reach 100 points for the Senators with an assist in his 132nd NHL game on Monday.