T.J. Oshie scored twice and John Carlson collected three assists to pace the host Washington Capitals to a 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Friday night.

Carlson, who is riding a six-game point streak, has 17 points in just nine games. The defenseman has netted two or more points in six of nine contests.

Washington goaltender Braden Holtby made 26 saves to record the win. The Rangers have dropped three straight games after opening the season with consecutive victories.

Oshie opened the scoring with a power-play marker, an own goal, just 2:24 in the affair. Oshie had several swipes at a loose puck and the puck trickled past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist but didn't go over the line until New York defenseman Marc Staal inadvertently kicked it into the goal.

New York's Pavel Buchnevich replied with a man-advantage marker of his own at 12:25 to even the count. Buchnevich showed great patience after receiving a perfect past from Mika Zibanejad before burying his first goal of the season.

But Michal Kempny, making his season debut after tearing his hamstring last spring, restored Washington's lead with five minutes left in the opening frame, driving in from his point position during a scramble and sliding home the puck.

Then Nic Dowd put the hosts up 3-1 early in the second period, pouncing on a rebound after Dmitry Orlov rang a shot off the post.

After Washington's Jakub Vrana was denied on a penalty shot, New York's Artemi Panarin tallied after a give-and-go with Chris Kreider to again make it a one-goal game with 3:04 left in the second period.

But comeback hopes were dashed by Oshie's second of the game (and team-high sixth of the season) -- another power-play marker coming midway through the third period -- and then Garnet Hathaway's empty netter with 27.7 seconds remaining.

Washington captain Alex Ovechkin collected his 1,220th career point to move ahead of Jean Beliveau for 42nd place on the league's all-time list.

Lundqvist stopped 29 shots for the Rangers, whose lone bright spot was Zibanejad collecting a pair of assists to give him 10 points in five games.

--Field Level Media