WASHINGTON (AP) — Charlie Lindgren stopped 31 shots for his second shutout of the season and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 4-0 Saturday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
Sonny Milano, Anthony Mantha, Tom Wilson and Nicolas Aube-Kubel all had goals to help the Capitals spoil former coach Peter Laviolette’s return to Washington with his new team and move into third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Igor Shesterkin finished with 24 saves as the Rangers were shut out for the first time this season and lost consecutive games for the first time. Laviolette spent three seasons with the Capitals before parting ways with the team in April and joining the Rangers two months later.
Milano, a healthy scratch on Thursday, got the Capitals on the board just 43 seconds into the game, firing a cross-ice feed from Martin Fehervary past Shesterkin.
Washington, which had been struggling to find consistent offense this season, then scored three goals in the second period.
Mantha got to the crease and redirected Evgeny Kuznetsov’s feed to the front past Sheterkin at 1:43 to put the Capitals up 2-0.
Wilson, who has five goals in his last five games, made it 3-0 at 5:35 with his ninth of the season.
Aube-Kubel, who hadn’t scored since Nov. 10, capped the scoring with his second with 8:08 left in the middle period. It gave Washington at least four goals in regulation for the second straight game after totaling nine goals in the previous six games.
Lindgren, facing his brother Ryan, at the NHL level for the first time, stole the show in net, moving quickly to deny the Rangers a few quality chances. He stopped younger three times en route to his fourth career shutout.
UP NEXT
Rangers: Host Los Angeles on Sunday night.
Capitals: At Chicago on Sunday night.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
