By STEPHEN WHYNO
WASHINGTON — Nic Dowd tied the game in the third period by batting the puck in out of the air, T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal 1:53 later and the Washington Capitals rallied to beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Saturday, handing the Metropolitan Division leaders a fourth consecutive loss.
Dowd’s third-period goal came after Evgeny Kuznetsov passed the puck to himself off the boards, skated around the net and put a shot on net that Dowd knocked in. Dylan Strome then fed Oshie for a redirection goal in front with 11:31 left in regulation.
Anthony Mantha scored his 12th goal of the season on a nifty back-hander in the first after a perfect pass from Connor McMichael. Facing brother Ryan for just the second time in the NHL and with several family members in attendance, Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 25 saves in his return from injury.
Coming back from down 2-0, Washington avoided what would have been an eighth loss in 10 games.
The Rangers’ third-period collapse only exacerbated what first-year — and former Capitals — coach Peter Laviolette called a “rough patch.”
For much of the afternoon, it looked like this would be the get-right game for New York, thanks to two goals from defenseman Adam Fox, who has scored four in as many games, and a solid showing by Jonathan Quick. The veteran goalie, who is in his first year with his boyhood favorite team after winning the Stanley Cup as the backup for the Vegas Golden Knights, allowed two goals on six shots in the third period after stopping 14 of the first 15 he faced.
Mika Zibanejad returned for the Rangers after missing their game Thursday at St. Louis because of an illness.
The Capitals were without injured captain Alex Ovechkin, who was considered a game-time decision. Ovechkin was banged up Jan. 5 against Carolina and has been in and out of practice since.
UP NEXT
Igor Shesterkin is expected to start for New York and Darcy Kuemper for Washington when these teams face off again Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
