WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Forward Aliaksei Protas’s new contract with the Capitals is worth $16.875 million and carries an average annual value of $3.375 million.

Oshie’s play since rejoining the lineup has been consistent in each game, and he looks like a renewed version of himself after a difficult start to the season.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel was credited with a goal that was a product of good fortune and Oshie got his first hat trick in more than two years in the win.

At just over the halfway point of the season, 42 games into the 82-game slate, Washington is 21-15-6.

After backing up Charlie Lindgren for back-to-back games against the Rangers, Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves in a 2-0 win for his first shutout of the season.

The Capitals couldn’t complete a weekend sweep during a 2-1 loss at Madison Square Garden, but Lindgren impressed for the second day in a row.

Without Alex Ovechkin (lower-body injury), the Capitals got third-period goals from Nic Dowd and T.J. Oshie for a 3-2 win.

The Capitals, among the lowest scoring teams in the NHL, can’t make up a two-goal deficit in the first period as the Kraken wins its eight straight.

Pacioretty, who has returned for the Capitals after two Achilles’ tendon injuries, is still not where he wants to be, but he now sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

Ryan Leonard was a thorn in the side of every team the United States faced. His fellow Capitals prospect, Ryan Chesley, had a subtler tournament.

Nic Dowd and Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored, and the fourth-liners set up defenseman John Carlson’s winner with 52.9 seconds left as the Capitals secured a 4-3 win.

A 1-4-1 stretch since the NHL’s Christmas break has exposed Washington’s shortcomings.

The Capitals entered Friday night 13-0-3 when leading after two periods. That streak ended with a thud as Carolina lit the lamp five times over the final 20 minutes.

The winger will be going to the league’s midseason showcase for the second time in three years — and this one will be in his hometown of Toronto.

The Capitals came home for the second leg of a back-to-back, and the travel showed in their legs and an early deficit that ultimately proved to be too much.

Washington soared to a 4-0 lead in the first period and nearly saw it slip away but held on for a 4-3 win in Pittsburgh.

Washington defenseman hadn’t played a hockey game at all since suffering a shoulder injury at the IIHF World Championships in May.

Spencer Carbery, a die-hard NFL fan, who has drawn inspiration in his coaching style from young pro football coaches like the San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan.