Kevin Hayes and Zuccarello. Andersson centered a line with Jimmy Vesey and Ryan Spooner and got the Rangers on the board. Andersson cut it to 4-1 late in the second period when Vesey worked the puck behind the net and sent a pass to Andersson, who wristed

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson missed Washington’s first 16 games due to a suspension for an illegal check. In the five games since his return http://www.officialhockeypanthersshop.com/authentic-adidas-james-reimer-jersey , Wilson has shown just how valuable he is to the Capitals.Wilson scored 54 seconds into the contest to set the pace and Washington defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 Wednesday night for its first three-game winning streak of the season.Andre Burakovsky, Michal Kempny and Devante Smith-Pelly added goals for the defending Stanley Cup champions.This win was easier for the Capitals, whose previous two victories came in overtime. Braden Holtby stopped 37 shots for Washington.Wilson was originally suspended for 20 games for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis forward Oskar Sundqvist in the teams’ preseason finale. That suspension was reduced to 14 games by a neutral arbitrator, but by the time the decision was rendered, Wilson had already missed 16 games.Had the 20-game suspension stood, this would have been Wilson’s first game. Instead, it was his first home game, and he got a loud reception.Wilson, who scored in his first game, upended Chicago goalie Corey Crawford on the way to the goal. Crawford stopped 23 shots. In his previous three games, he’d allowed just two goals.“Sometimes when you have to watch some games for a while, you pick up some different things you can add,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said.“He’s played great since he’s been back, and we’re fortunate to get him back earlier than expected.”Washington has had an uneven start in its defense of the Cup. With Wilson’s suspension and injuries to key players Youth Jamie McGinn Jersey , they’re hoping to get on a roll now.“We’re demanding of each other to get back there,” Wilson said of the team’s quest for back-to-back Stanley Cups.“There was adversity at the beginning of last year,” he said. “That’s how you build a team.”Burakovsky knows how difficult the Capitals’ task is.“Obviously, it was a shorter summer for us and a shorter time to prepare ourselves for the season,” Burakovsky said. “So, just to get back after a year that we had, I think it’s tough to get in and get going right away. So, we’re building our game slowly and tonight I think we did exactly what we wanted.”Brandon Saad and Erik Gustafsson scored for Chicago, which began a streak of seven road games in its next nine contests.Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton replaced longtime coach Joel Queeneville on Nov. 6, and the team is 2-3-2 since. Chicago has lost eight straight games in Washington.“I thought the effort was there and we looked like we were going to climb back into it multiple times during the game,” Colliton said. “Some self-inflicted wounds there that made it difficult on the road against a cup winner. That’s kind of the story today.”Kempny whose goal midway through the second period gave Washington a 3-0 lead, was happy his first goal of the season came against his former team.“It feels really nice,” Kempny said. I have to say, it wasn’t an easy game for me to play. I know a lot of guys from Chicago. I was there almost two seasons. . It feels a little bit weird. The first period I was really excited from the game. After the first I was trying a little bit to settle down and keep playing my game and help my team to win.”NOTES: Washington forwards Evegeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie were out with upper body injuries for the third straight game. . Forwards Luke Johnson Womens Jared McCann Jersey , Chris Kunitz and D Brandon Manning were all healthy scratches for Chicago for the second straight game. . Capitals F Alex Oveckhin was penalized for slashing in the second period, just his fourth penalty in 21 games. … Washington F Jakub Vrana had two assists, Oveckhin had one.UP NEXT:Blackhawks: Visit Tampa Bay in the second game of a three-game road trip on Friday.Capitals: Host Detroit on Friday afternoon. NEW YORK (AP) Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals used a fast start to end a perfect road trip.Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 45th goal and the Capitals extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday night.T.J. Oshie, Matt Niskanen and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for Washington, which went 3-0 at Detroit, Montreal and Madison Square Garden.Nicklas Backstrom, who had four assists in a win over Montreal on Saturday, added two more to give him 44 this season. Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves.”Tonight we got really loose in the second two periods there, they really took it to us,” Oshie said. ”Without Grub, we might be in overtime right now.”Washington increased its lead to five points over two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh for first place in the Metropolitan Division.”We’ve still got to keep going and keep getting points every night,” Oshie said.Lias Andersson scored in his NHL debut and Mats Zuccarello added a goal for the Rangers.Andersson, at 19 years, 164 days Jonathan Huberdeau Jersey , became the youngest player in team history to score in his NHL debut. He broke the mark set by Mike Allison (19 years, 195 days) on Oct. 9, 1980, at Boston.”It feels good, obviously,” Andersson said. ”It’s always fun to score and especially in your first NHL game, so it was fun.”The Capitals scored four goals in the first period and cruised from there.”I think we jumped in right away,” Ovechkin said. ”I think we had pretty good chances in the first couple of shifts. Osh scored, Nisky’s goal is pretty sick. How he scored, it was pretty impressive.”Oshie gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead 2:50 into the game with his 18th of the season. Backstrom skated the puck into the zone and had three Rangers near him when he passed to an open Oshie at the right faceoff circle and he beat Alexandar Georgiev with a wrister.Niskanen made it 2-0 just 2:23 later. Kuznetsov skated with the puck at the blue line and sent a backhand pass to Niskanen, who had plenty of time to score his seventh of the season at 5:13Ovechkin scored on a one-timer on the power play from his favorite spot in the left faceoff circle at 8:54. Georgiev was pulled after allowing three goals on six shots.Ondrej Pavelec replaced him and made 26 saves. It was Pavelec’s first appearance since Feb. 9 against Calgary.Kuznetsov finished off the dominant first period with a short-handed goal at 16:39.”We talked about this road trip,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. ”We’ve had really terrible starts. We put a lot of emphasis on the first period, obviously. We were able to get their goaltender out and obviously built a lead.”Andersson and Filip Chytil gave the Rangers a glimpse of the franchise’s future. Andersson and Chytil, both 2017 first-round draft picks and centers Keith Yandle Jersey , were promoted from the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford on Sunday.Chytil centered a line with Kevin Hayes and Zuccarello. Andersson centered a line with Jimmy Vesey and Ryan Spooner and got the Rangers on the board. Andersson cut it to 4-1 late in the second period when Vesey worked the puck behind the net and sent a pass to Andersson, who wristed it past Grubauer at 13:16.”It was a great feeling to see him score his first goal,” Chytil said of Andersson. ”It was something special. We will talk about it tonight. It’s great that he scored his first goal in his first game.”Chytil assisted on Zuccarello’s 16th goal at 4:26 of the third for his first NHL point.”Both kids had a good game,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. ”It was an emotional day and an emotional game for them, but I thought they played well.”NOTES: Devante Smith-Pelly, Shane Gersich and Christian Djoos were scratched by the Capitals. … According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Andersson and Chytil became the first pair of teenagers to get a point in the same game with the Rangers since Dec. 18, 1974 (Ron Greschner and Dave Maloney). Chytil played two games earlier in the season with New York. … Henrik Lundqvist, David Desharnais, Peter Holland, Paul Carey and Tony DeAngelo were the healthy scratches for the Rangers.UP NEXTThe teams play the second half of a back-to-back Wednesday night in Washington.—