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WASHINGTON — Even though they are playing their best hockey of the season Womens Victor Rask Jersey , expect the Washington Capitals to find a little something extra in the tank Wednesday when the Pittsburgh Penguins come to town for the next chapter in this storied rivalry.“It’s always something you kind of look forward to and know about,” Washington coach Todd Reirden told reporters. “Our players are excited to play against them. It’s always a good challenge.”The Capitals have won five straight games to solidify first place atop the Metropolitan Division behind the continued excellence of Alexander Ovechkin, who has seven goals in his last three games and 29 on the season.Article continues below ...“Of course, you want to have as many points as you can,” Ovechkin said after practice Monday. “But I always say, you can’t score every game. You can’t make points every night. It’s hard. The league is hard right now. If you get a point or you get a goal, you get (lucky). … I just try to do my best.”Ovechkin’s best has been more than enough for the Capitals, as their captain’s play is raising everyone’s level during a run in which they’ve won 12 of 13.“The players are making it difficult for our staff to pick the guys who should be playing each night and that’s a good thing,” Reirden said. “That internal competition that we have going on right now is something that’s allowed us to have the type of success we’ve had the last 24, 25 games. It’s a good thing. It’s a good problem to have.”The Penguins have righted the ship after a slow start, going 8-4-2 over their last 14 games, but they remain inconsistent, as evidenced in a 4-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday in which they squandered a two-goal lead.The loss highlighted a persistent problem for Pittsburgh: the second period. In their 18 defeats Alex DeBrincat Jersey , the Penguins have a minus-18 goal differential.“Hopefully we can eliminate some of the bad periods here and get back on a substantial winning streak,” Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith told reporters after Monday’s game. “It’s just part of the game. We have to do a little bit better job of managing it and we’ll be in good shape.”While Braden Holtby figures to get the start for Washington, the Penguins goaltending situation remains fluid between DeSmith and Matt Murray, especially given the team’s busy schedule over the next few weeks.“We’re trying to keep them both at their best by keeping them well-rested and sharp,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan told the team’s website. “Looking at the big picture this week, both of them are going to get a significant amount of playing time.”This is already the third game of the season between the Penguins and Capitals, with the teams splitting the prior two games. Pittsburgh won a 7-6 thriller on Oct. 4, while Washington captured a 2-1 victory on Nov. 7.“Yeah, it’s a big rivalry, with lots of emotion,” Ovechkin said. “Fans get involved. You guys. It’s a fun time to play.” DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche had New York boxed in from the start.All game, really, with Colorado going on 10 power plays to keep the Rangers on the defensive throughout.Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen set the early tone with power-play goals in the first period Cam Atkinson Jersey Kids , helping the Avalanche end a six-game slide with a 6-1 win over the Rangers on Friday night.Colorado finished with its most power-play opportunities since Oct. 16, 2008, when the team had 11 against Philadelphia.“The way we’ve been struggling lately it feels so good to get a win,” defenseman Tyson Barrie said.Gabriel Landeskog added a goal off his right skate, Alexander Kerfoot tipped in a shot, Rantanen deflected in yet another and Ryan Graves closed out the scoring with his first career NHL goal as a struggling Avalanche squad won for the first time since Dec. 19.Colorado finished 3 of 10 on the power play, with two of the goals scored following a 5-minute boarding call on former Avalanche player Cody McLeod just 2 1/2 minutes in.“It’s been losing hockey. It’s been negative — negative video, a negative vibe around the rink,” MacKinnon said. “It’s nice to finally end it.”To Rangers coach David Quinn, this loss boiled down to one thing — all those penalties. The Avalanche had 15:23 of power-play time.“You have zero chance to win a hockey game in that way,” Quinn said. “It wasn’t our night from the get-go. We created a lot of our own problems with the penalties.”Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves, including one on a penalty shot by Jimmy Vesey late in the third.Ryan Strome scored the Rangers’ lone goal midway through third period on a night they were outshot by a 47-25 margin. Alexandar Georgiev attempted to keep things close while giving Henrik Lundqvist a night off. Lundqvist was pulled Wednesday after allowing six goals in a loss to Pittsburgh.Barrie had three assists to give him 278 career points, the most by a defenseman in franchise history. Barrie broke the mark held by John-Michael Liles.“Finally nice to get it out of the way and put it behind me Womens Josh Anderson Jersey ,” Barrie said. ” It’s something I can look back on and take pride in it. Johnny’s a great guy and a great player, so it’s nice to pass him and take him out to dinner.”After the morning skate, the Avalanche reiterated over and over the importance of a fast start to break out of their 0-4-2 skid.This helped their cause: Going on the power play early when McLeod slammed the face of defenseman Samuel Girard into the glass on a big hit. MacKinnon scored on a high wrist shot over Georgiev’s glove at 4:40, with Rantanen adding another 2:13 later when his pass went in off the stick of New York defenseman Neal Pionk.“It’s hard to play games when you sit that long in the box,” Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello said. “At the end of the day, they were the better team than us.”Colorado was getting all the bounces, with Landeskog knocking in a goal with his right skate midway through the second period. The Avalanche led 5-0 in the third before Strome ended Grubauer’s shutout bid on a breakaway.Graves scored his first career goal following a rebound in the third. He was selected by New York in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, before being dealt to Colorado last February.“Regardless of who we were playing, it’s pretty sweet,” Graves said of his goal.NOTES: Rangers C Kevin Hayes missed the game with an upper body injury. … Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov remains day-to-day with a lower body injury. … The Avs are stumping for Landeskog to make the All-Star team through the “Last Men In” vote from the fans. There were buttons and signs that read, “Vote Gabe in.” … MacKinnon and Landeskog each have 25 goals this season.UP NEXT:Rangers: Stop No. 2 on a three-game trip will be Sunday in Arizona.Avalanche: Open a five-game trip Tuesday in Winnipeg.