The visiting Washington Capitals scored four second-period goals and held on to defeat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on Sunday night.
Alex Ovechkin scored his fourth empty-net goal in three games for the Capitals, who have won four straight, their longest winning streak of the season. Charlie Lindgren made 29 saves in his fourth consecutive start.
Ovechkin has 797 NHL goals, four behind Gordie Howe for second place all time. Ovechkin (53) trails only Wayne Gretzky (56) for the most empty-net goals in NHL history.
Adam Lowry and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jets, who had won four straight. Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves.
Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov had two assists in his return after missing 16 games with a lower-body injury.
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The first period was scoreless only because Lindgren and Hellebuyck took turns making acrobatic saves. Hellebuyck made a series of strong saves against the Capitals' fourth line midway through the period and then Lindgren robbed Dubois alone in front.
Washington's Trevor van Riemsdyk made it 1-0 at 3:25 of the second period when he got a feed from Nic Dowd, skated in and scored on a wrist shot from the slot.
Evgeny Kuznetsov's power-play goal increased the lead to 2-0 at 8:21. Conor Sheary fed John Carlson at the point and Carlson passed in front to Kuznetsov, who lifted a backhander past Hellebuyck.
Marcus Johansson was fouled by Josh Morrissey on a short-handed breakaway and converted the penalty shot to make it 3-0 at 9:55.
Playing in his 900th career game, Lars Eller pushed the lead to 4-0 when he scored off the rebound of Anthony Mantha's shot at 15:24.
Lowry pulled the Jets within 4-1 when he grabbed Josh Morrissey's rebound out front and lifted it home 35 seconds into the 3rd period.
Dubois made it 4-2 at 3:29, scoring from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Kyle Connor during a three-on-one rush.
Ovechkin scored into an empty net with 2:12 left to play for the 5-2 final.
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--Field Level Media
The Trust Project
