Washington Capitals vs Ottawa Senators Match Player Stats On Dec 22, 2018

Brett Connolly finished with a goal and an assist, and goalie Pheonix Copley made 35 saves as the visiting Washington Capitals defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-0 on Saturday night.

For Washington, this was its second win in two nights. The Capitals edged Buffalo 2-1 on Friday in a home game and now have won seven of their last eight games while remaining atop the Metropolitan Division.

For Copley, it was another strong performance. The rookie goalie improved to 8-2-1 on the season and has looked better each time he plays.

This was his first career shutout.

The Capitals had struggled on offense in the past two games, scoring a total of three goals -- one in a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh before the Buffalo win - but everything came together against the Senators.

It started early as Connolly redirected a Jonas Siegenthaler shot past goalie Mike McKenna just 1:32 into the game for a quick 1-0 lead. For the rookie Siegenthaler, it was his second career point.

The Capitals made it 2-0 on a goal from Matt Niskanen late in the period. Nicklas Backstrom made a nice crossing pass from the left wing that Niskanen simply redirected past McKenna for the two-goal lead.

Alex Ovechkin got the other assist on the goal. The Washington captain had not scored in the last two games after getting points in 14 straight contests.

Washington got two more in the second period for a 4-0 lead.

The first one came from Jakub Vrana, who's emerging as a real offensive threat. He stole the puck from Mark Stone deep in the Ottawa zone, made a quick turn and scored an unassisted goal at 9:05 of the second period.

The second goal came courtesy of Michal Kempny and a bit of good fortune. He fired a shot towards the net from the left point, but it hit the skate of Ottawa's Cody Ceci and deflected in with 6:16 remaining for the 4-0 lead.

The two teams will meet again in Ottawa next Saturday.

--Field Level Media