Playing his third game in a row in place of starter Jose Theodore, Johnson stopped 28 of 29 shots and Washington received goals from forwards Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin and defenseman Tom Poti to earn a 3-1 victory over the Rangers at Verizon Center.

During those three games, including a 2-1 overtime loss at Ottawa on Tuesday and a 3-2 win vs. Carolina on Thursday, Johnson has stopped 102 of 107 shots. That’s good for a .953 save percentage.

“No I don’t,” Johnson said when asked if he felt vindicated after last season’s deadline trade for goalie Cristobal Huet, which resulted in his own benching. “You know what, I’m just going to keep playing hard and whatever happens, happens. I’m going to try my best to stay in the net and get wins for the guys.”

Johnson could get another chance on Monday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, according to Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. But that won’t be decided for sure until practice this morning.

 

“I’m not into those goalie controversies. If you’re playing good, you’re playing good,” Boudreau said. “Right now, Brent is playing really well and he’s in a position that he hasn’t been [in] quite a few years, so I hope he’s relishing it.”

The Caps put together another strong defensive performance in front of Johnson. Many of New York’s 29 shots came from the wings or the point and when the Rangers did create scoring chances in front Johnson was there to make the timely save. Only a power-play shot by Aaron Voros at 6 minutes, 27 seconds of the third period managed to slip past Johnson — and even that was because the puck deflected off the stick of a lunging Poti.

The Caps opened the scoring with a fluke goal at 9:14 of the first. While working on a power play, Semin fired a shot high over the goal. But the puck bounced off the glass behind the net and caromed off the top of the cross bar. Left wing Brooks Laich was there to smack it out of the air and past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist for a 1-0 lead.

Late in the period, the Caps extended that advantage to 2-0. Forward Boyd Gordon drove hard to the net past Rangers defenseman Dmitri Kalinin. Lundqvist stopped the attempt as Gordon slid past the goal. But Poti was there for a backhanded rebound, his first goal of the season, at 17:06. Both Caps goals were reviewed and eventually upheld — Laich’s because his stick was close to being above the cross bar and Poti’s because the net was slightly knocked off one mooring when Gordon slid past.

“You’re not going to [score] by just waiting for the goal to happen,” Boudreau said. “You’ve got to go to the net. Something will hit you and go in. Those are the way you win hockey games, especially against great goaltending.”

Lundqvist was excellent. He made several highlight-reel saves in the first two periods, including key stops against Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Tomas Fleischmann, and finished with 25 saves on 27 shots. Semin’s goal was an empty-netter fired from deep in New York’s offensive zone with just six seconds to play and the Rangers buzzing with a 6-on-5 advantage.

“It’s always nice to beat the best team in the [Eastern Conference],” said Poti. “We’re not looking at this as anything crazy. Just two points in the bank and keep moving forward.”

Caps notes

» Left wing Alex Ovechkin again failed to score a goal – his ninth straight game without one — and was held pointless by the Rangers, too. But just as he did against Carolina on Thursday, Ovechkin contributed in other ways. He took three shots, including a blast from deep in the slot that goalie Henrik Lundqvist somehow kept from sliding past him. That was much to the chagrin of Ovechkin, who had already begun to raise his arms in celebration, only to slide to his knees and flash a sardonic smile. Ovechkin also finished with a game-high four hits.

“If I have a chance to hit the guy why not hit,” said Ovechkin, who dished hard checks to both New York defensemen Paul Mara and Marc Staal. “So, I think it was a good situation when I hit Staal. It was pretty good and I want more of the same. It’s my style.”

» With the victory, Washington (7-4-2, 16 points) pulled to within two points of Southeast Division leader Carolina (8-4-2, 18 points). The Rangers (11-5-1, 23 points) remain in first place in the Atlantic Division and have the most points of any team in the Eastern Conference.

» Caps captain Chris Clark was scratched thanks to a lingering wrist injury, according to Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. Clark had been dropped to the fourth line earlier this week. Center Sergei Fedorov (lower-body injury) and defenseman Shaone Morrisonn (groin) were also scratched. Defenseman Tyler Sloan was recalled from AHL Hershey for the second time this season and logged 16:49 of ice time.

» The Caps are now 16-0-2 at Verizon Center over their last 18 regular-season home games, including 5-0-1 this season.

» Center Boyd Gordon won eight of 10 faceoffs against New York as the Caps dominated in the circle (33-of-53). Gordon has won 16 of his last 22 draws and was a plus-two on the night.

» Center Nicklas Backstrom continues to round into shape. He just missed on several quality scoring chances vs. Carolina on Thursday and was equally as good against New York. He did notch an assist on the first-period goal by Brooks Laich.

» Right wing Alexander Semin’s empty-net goal was his 11th of the year. He also assisted on Laich’s tally.

» Boudreau on the tripping penalty assessed to Semin with 2:15 to play: “It was a pretty crappy penalty. I don’t know if you could hear it [from the press box] but it was stick on stick. He didn’t even touch the guy’s legs. But they called it.”

» The game drew a crowd of 17,948.