Caps drop Canucks, 5-1

In Vancouver, Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the first period on Tuesday to help the Washington Capitals beat the Canucks, 5-1.

“He was really good in the first and I thought we were really good in the first so it was nice to get out and get a jump like that,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “He certainly led. We knew we needed to have a good first period, have a good game and you need your best players to do that.”

Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves in the win.

Washington improved to 10-11-3.

Anthony Mantha added a single marker for the Caps.

“That was a good 60 right there,” Mantha said. “We were hard on them, obviously made good O-zone plays and the puck bounced our way.”

Nils Hoglander scored for Vancouver in the first period to get them within 2-1 of the Caps.

The Canucks dropped to 9-11-3.

“We know that’s a desperate team over there as well, so it’s disappointing when you don’t come out and don’t execute and get outcompeted pretty much period by period there,” Vancouver’s JT Miller said. “It’s frustrating because when you lose games, it should never be about your compete level and battle level. It’s frustrating because they didn’t out-skill us today, they didn’t out-system us. They literally just out-battled us and created their own chances.”

John Carlson added a goal in the middle frame to make it 4-1 headed to the third period.

“This one is unreal, obviously, beating the Great One and he becomes No. 1 in that aspect,” Mantha said. “I don’t even think he knew about it until after the game so good for him, and obviously, there’s more records that are going to get broken.”

Martin Fehervary added an empty-net goal for the 5-1 final in the third period.

Spencer Martin made 23 saves in the Vancouver loss.

“We feel like we’ve come together and we’re getting better and better and building, so to come here and have a game go that way is disappointing,” said Martin, who started for the third time in four games. “And I take a lot of responsibility for this loss because the goalie has a unique way to affect the game and I felt like early in the game, I didn’t do enough to give us a chance.”