The New York Rangers are trying to stay confident as their season continues to slip away. The Washington Capitals beat them 7-4 on Saturday to give them 16 losses in their past 21 games.

(AP Photo/John McDonnell) Washington Capitals center Aliaksei Protas (21) moves in behind New York Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick (32) to score a goal on a rebound during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington.

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are scheduled and offers insight and analysis to help predict who will be victorious in head-to-head matchups.

For most of the last five weeks, the Caps have been engaged in low-scoring, tight-checking contests. But on Saturday afternoon against the New York Rangers at Capital One Arena, the Caps turned the clock back to their high-scoring ways of October and November,

The New York Rangers dropped a divisional matchup with the Washington Capitals 7-4 on Saturday at Capital One Arena.

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin hasn't skipped a beat, and he delivered once again against the New York Rangers. Ovechkin had the game-winner and an assist, and the Capitals rediscovered their spark in a 7-4 win over the Rangers.

The defense — team and individual — was leaky, which isn’t new. And the Rangers’ reliable penalty kill gave up two key goals, continuing a downward trend in what was really the last bastion of quality the team has had this season.

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored his 872nd career goal to move 23 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record, and the Washington Capitals beat the struggling New York Rangers ... Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas also scored against Jonathan ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 872nd career goal to move 23 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record, and the Washington Capitals beat the struggling New York Rangers ... Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas also scored against ...

In the fourteenth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot, the division had a combined four regulation losses. The Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders even got hot. All this and more in this week’s snapshot.

Chris Kreider gave the Rangers their first lead, 4-3, at 10:22. Carrick won a face-off back to Kreider, who skated into the high slot and scored with a shot that deflected in off the stick of Utah defenseman Ian Cole.