Washington Capitals defeat New York Rangers, give Barry Trotz 700th career victory

NEW YORK -- Kevin Shattenkirk's first game with the Washington Capitals turned out to be coach Barry Trotz's 700th career victory.

The prized trade-deadline acquisition was solid in his debut and Marcus Johansson scored twice as the league-leading Capitals overcame a slow start to handle the New York Rangers 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

Shattenkirk was acquired from the St. Louis Blues late Monday night and did not arrive in New York until after the Capitals morning skate. He had four shots in 17:57 of ice time and fit in seamlessly on the first power-play unit.

The Capitals won the Presidents' Trophy last year before bowing out in the second round of the playoffs. Shattenkirk's arrival to a team that is once again headed toward the best record in the regular season will only serve to raise expectations and pressure when the playoffs start in April.

"We have to go farther," Trotz said. "It's a privilege to have pressure. That's the way we look at it. To be in a situation where we think we have a good hockey team ... all bets are off (in the playoffs). The playoffs are a different animal. We'll just have to work through that."

The Capitals had to work through the first 15 minutes Tuesday night as they fell behind 1-0 on a goal by Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei while being outshot 9-3. They turned the tables after that, scoring the final four goals and outshooting the Rangers 38-30 overall.

Johansson scored off a rebound early in the second period, then Brett Connolly swept home a loose puck later in the period to put the Capitals ahead for good. Johansson scored his career-best 21st goal in the third off a great feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov, who had two assists, and Nicklas Backstrom added a power-play goal with 2:03 remaining.

The Capitals (42-13-7) hold a seven-point lead for top spot in the East and three-point lead for the best mark in the NHL.

"He manages us, makes sure we're going at the right time with our energy level," said Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby, who made 29 saves, about Trotz managing the team's expectations. "All our coaches have big roles to play, which is good because that's how our team works. We rely on everyone and that's what he does best."

The Rangers (40-21-2) were without several key players and were overwhelmed for most of the final two periods. The game could have turned out differently, however, if not for a coach's challenge that overturned a Michael Grabner goal that would have put the Rangers ahead 2-1 in the second period because the play was offside.

"If it's no goal, you have to make sure you're ready to go next shift and we just didn't generate enough in the second period," Rangers center Derek Stepan said. "Even in the third, I thought we had our opportunities and we just frustrated ourselves. It was just a frustrating night. You could feel it on the bench. Everyone was frustrated. It is what it is, we have to make sure we learn from it and get ourselves ready."

The loss just about guarantees the Rangers won't catch the Capitals for the division title and now they're two points behind the Penguins and Blue Jackets, who both have games in hand on the Rangers. If the Rangers finish in the first wild-card spot, that's not necessarily a bad thing as they would cross over and play the Atlantic Division champion in the first round, which will present a more favorable matchup.

The Rangers have said that's not their goal but it may be inevitable if their power play, which went 0 for 4 on Tuesday and is 1 for 29 in the past 11 games, doesn't improve.

"We've been talking about it a lot here and it's frustrating," Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said. "No question about it. The guys that are on it have to take some pride here and can't get outworked, can't get out executed. We weren't sharp at times and when we did have looks then you have to put pucks on the net, hit the net, and crash the net. It should be a little more simple in execution and we'll get better results."

NOTES:

-- The Capitals were without RW T.J. Oshie (upper body) and D Brooks Orpik (lower body). Both players practiced Monday.

-- Capitals D Matt Niskanen was back in the lineup after a two-game absence with a lower-body injury.

-- The Rangers acquired D Brendan Smith from the Detroit Red Wings for a 2017 third-round pick and 2018 second-round pick. Smith did not join the team in time to play.

-- Rangers C Mika Zibanejad (hand) and D Kevin Klein (back) did not play.

-- The Rangers sent LW Pavel Buchnevich to Hartford of the AHL on Tuesday.

-- Rangers D Dan Girardi will miss two weeks because of a deep cut on his ankle.