Rangers lose, 4-2

In New York T.J. Oshie scored a hat trick for the Washington Capitals in a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers, on Wednesday.

“Pretty spectacular,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “To go through what he went through and to want to be back here, get with his teammates and play and to play a game for ‘Coach’ and the game that he played, outstanding. It says a lot about him and what he means to this team.”

Earlier in the day, the Rangers fired president John Davidson and general Manager Jeff Gorton.

“We had normal meetings this morning and then obviously word got out what had happened,” Rangers head coach David Quinn said. “I’ve got so much respect for Jeff and ‘JD’. It’s sad, but unfortunately, it’s a tough part of sports. Everybody here feels for them. That being said, it’s an unbelievable opportunity for Chris and we’ll do everything to support him. It’s been a tough day, but it’s the unfortunate part of sports.”

Vitek Vanecek made 19 saves. in the win.

The game featured a line brawl at the one second mark of the first period, in response to the assault by Tom Wilson on Artemi Panarin in their game Monday night.

“I had no beef with anyone else on their team,” New York’s Brendan Smith said. “It had to be on my shoulders, and I thought I took it.”

Nic Dowd added a single marker for the Caps.

New York’s Alexis Lafreniere scored in the third period to make the score 3-1 for the Caps.

“When your star player gets tossed around like that, I mean, it doesn’t matter what type of team you have, I think the response was appropriate,” the Rangers’ Ryan Strome said. “Proud of our guys. I think it says a lot about us.”

Morgan Barron struck for his first NHL for the Rangers.

Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves in the loss.