LOS ANGELES — Alex Ovechkin scored two power-play goals for the Washington Capitals in a 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Monday.
Ovechkin extended his goal streak to three games for the Capitals (33-20-7), were coming off a 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Washington trails the New York Islanders by three points for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
“Obviously, 2-for-2 (on the power play), it’s a very big result,” Ovechkin said. “… We play simple, we play smart, and we move the puck well, and that’s a great opportunity not only for me, but for different guys as well.”
[WATCH: All Capitals vs. Kings highlights]
Alex Iafallo and Ilya Kovalchuk scored, Dustin Brown had an assist for his 600th NHL point, and Jack Campbell made 18 saves for the Kings (23-30-6), who are 0-3-2 in their past five games. Los Angeles is in last place in the Western Conference, eight points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second Western wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“Times like this, you got to stick together and keep striving every day to get better as a team and individually,” Iafallo said.
Video: WSH@LAK: Washington capitalizes twice in 20 seconds
John Carlson had two assists, getting the 300th of his NHL career when he set up Ovechkin’s one-timer from the left face-off circle to make it 1-0 at 11:48 of the first period. Ovechkin and Carlson passed back and forth to get Campbell off balance, with Ovechkin scoring on the second return pass.
“I think [Carlson] does a great job of not really letting anyone know when he’s going to give it to [Ovechkin],” Washington forward Brett Connolly said. “He’s not looking at him half the time anyways. [Ovechkin] just needs a little bit of room like we all know, and if there’s a little bit of traffic in front and the goalie is kind of looking around, it’s tough for goalies to get back, especially when he puts it where he wants it.”
Connolly scored 20 seconds after Ovechkin to give Washington a 2-0 lead at 12:08 of the first when he tipped Andre Burakovsky‘s shot.
Ovechkin made it 3-0 at 5:27 of the second period with another one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Carlson for his NHL-leading 42nd goal.
“It’s really hard to read, and there’s obviously quite a bit of power behind it, so, yeah, it’s a special shot, for sure,” said Pheonix Copley, who made 26 saves to win his third straight start.
It was the 13th power-play goal for Ovechkin, who has at least 13 goals on the man-advantage in 13 of his 14 NHL seasons.
Each of Ovechkin’s four goals during his streak has come on a one-timer from the left circle.
“The puck can move a heck of a lot faster than a player,” Carlson said. “It’s just constantly kind of a chess game and finding what’s open, but regardless, we want to get him the puck, and I think everyone knows that.”
Iafallo got to the far post to tap in Brown’s pass at 8:20 of the third period and cut it to 3-1.
Kovalchuk made it 3-2 at 19:32 on a slap shot from the blue line with Campbell off for the extra attacker.
“Yeah, we sat back a little bit in the third, but we closed it down,” Connolly said. “It’s not easy to win on the road, and we found a way to win after not playing our best last night. Got a little nerve-wracking at the end, but we found a way.”
Video: WSH@LAK: Niskanen clears the puck off the goal line
They said it
“I think he really liked the celebration part, and he said, ‘I want to do that again.'” — Capitals coach Todd Reirden on forward Alex Ovechkin‘s performance this season after winning the Stanley Cup
“We go back on the road this week, so we got to find our groove there, and then bring it back home again.” — Kings forward Austin Wagner on their upcoming four-game trip
Need to know
The Capitals ended an eight-game losing streak at Staples Center, getting their first win in Los Angeles since Dec. 14, 2005. … Ovechkin has four points (three goals, one assist) in the past three games and 17 (nine goals, eight assists) in his past 11. …. Carlson has one goal and four assists during a three-game streak. … Jakub Vrana had an assist on Ovechkin’s first goal to extend his point streak to three games (one goal, three assists). He has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past 10 games. … Brown has 272 goals and 328 assists in 1,094 NHL games. … Kings center Anze Kopitar had an assist on Kovalchuk’s goal, giving him 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in the past 11 games.
What’s next
Capitals: At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, TSN4, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)
Kings: At the Nashville Predators on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)
from A Viral Update http://bit.ly/2TVCCV7
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