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Washington: The Washington Capitals knocked the New York Rangers out of the top spot in the Eastern Conference with a 4-1 home victory on Wednesday, snapping the Rangers' five-game winning streak.
New York fell behind early and was left in the dust as they dropped one point behind Boston in the East after the Bruins defeated Phoenix in a late overtime affair.
Marcus Johansson opened the scoring for Washington with a wrist shot at 8:18 of the opening period before Brandon Dubinsky tied the score later in the first.
Troy Brouwer put the Capitals back in front midway through the second period and Alexander Semin made it 3-1 at 13:02.
Semin sealed the win with his second of the game at 17:25 of the third period to hand the Rangers the loss in the first of a three-game road trip.
Washington goalkeeper Tomas Vokoun responded to being handed his first start since December 13 with 31 saves, including 15 in the third where New York (22-9-4) tried to mount a charge.
Important game
"[Vokoun] did an unbelievable job today and kept us in the game," Alex Ovechkin told reporters after he finished with a pair of assists for the Capitals.
"When you feel good about your goalie you know that he is going to make the save. It was a very important game for us."
Winners of the last four Southeast Division titles, Washington have found themselves in the middle of the pack this season but a win pulls them within seven points of first-placed Florida.
The Rangers run came to an end as leading scorer Marian Gaborik, tied for the NHL lead with 22 goals, had his five-game scoring streak snapped in a mistake-prone effort for his team.
"[We had some] turnovers. It killed us," Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "I thought we beat ourselves a little bit in those situations. We didn't defend and allowed them to score."
New York fell behind early and was left in the dust as they dropped one point behind Boston in the East after the Bruins defeated Phoenix in a late overtime affair.
Marcus Johansson opened the scoring for Washington with a wrist shot at 8:18 of the opening period before Brandon Dubinsky tied the score later in the first.
Troy Brouwer put the Capitals back in front midway through the second period and Alexander Semin made it 3-1 at 13:02.
Semin sealed the win with his second of the game at 17:25 of the third period to hand the Rangers the loss in the first of a three-game road trip.
Washington goalkeeper Tomas Vokoun responded to being handed his first start since December 13 with 31 saves, including 15 in the third where New York (22-9-4) tried to mount a charge.
Important game
"[Vokoun] did an unbelievable job today and kept us in the game," Alex Ovechkin told reporters after he finished with a pair of assists for the Capitals.
"When you feel good about your goalie you know that he is going to make the save. It was a very important game for us."
Winners of the last four Southeast Division titles, Washington have found themselves in the middle of the pack this season but a win pulls them within seven points of first-placed Florida.
The Rangers run came to an end as leading scorer Marian Gaborik, tied for the NHL lead with 22 goals, had his five-game scoring streak snapped in a mistake-prone effort for his team.
"[We had some] turnovers. It killed us," Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "I thought we beat ourselves a little bit in those situations. We didn't defend and allowed them to score."
