New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals Match Player Stats On Apr 02, 2023

Defenseman K'Andre Miller collected a goal and an assist to lift the visiting New York Rangers to a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.

Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, Vladimir Tarasenko and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers (45-21-11, 101 points), who snapped a two-game losing streak and reached a triple-digit point total for the second straight season. Goalie Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for New York.

Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas scored for the Capitals (34-34-9, 77 points), who have dropped four in a row (0-3-1) and seven of their last eight games (1-5-2). Washington, which has made the playoffs in each of the previous eight seasons, will be eliminated from the wild-card race with one more loss, one more win by the Florida Panthers or two victories by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Capitals aren't scheduled to play again until Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens. The Panthers play the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, while the Penguins host the Philadelphia Flyers later Sunday and the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

Goalie Darcy Kuemper recorded 29 saves for Washington.

Miller opened the scoring with 6:43 left in the first period after he put back the rebound of a shot by Vincent Trocheck.

Lafreniere doubled the lead in impressive fashion just 2:02 later. Nicklas Backstrom couldn't corral the puck in the neutral zone and lost possession to Filip Chytil. With Backstrom pestering him from behind, Chytil sent a drop pass to Lafreniere, who managed to control the puck while going from his forehand to his backhand around defenseman Rasmus Sandin before beating Kuemper.

Kakko scored a minute into the second period after his shot glanced off the skate of Martin Fehervary.

Strome pulled the Capitals within 3-1 with 6:37 left in the second, when he looked as if he was about to skate around the back of the net before he chipped a shot that glanced off the leg of Shesterkin.

Tarasenko extended the lead back to three goals 5:53 into the third, when his shot from the top of the left faceoff circle sailed over Kuemper's glove and off the far post.

Protas finished a six-shot, nine-second flurry in the Rangers' crease with 8:16 left before Zibanejad added another insurance goal by scoring with one second left on a power play with 5:46 remaining.

--Field Level Media