The Caps (34-16-5, 73 points) failed in their attempt to sweep the season series from the Rangers (30-20-5, 65 points), who snapped a five-game winless streak. But Washington felt fortunate to leave New York with a point at all. The Caps committed four penalties in the third period alone, including a four-minute double-minor for high sticking given to defenseman Shaone Morrisonn at 10 minutes, 3 seconds of the third. That play also left his team down 5-on-3 for 36 seconds.

But as they did on Jan. 31 against Detroit and last Saturday against Florida, the Caps were excellent while killing a two-man advantage and the rest of Morrisonn’s penalty. The only problem? The effort sapped much of their remaining energy and few quality scoring chances materialized during the final six minutes or overtime.

“Usually at the end of the game we can make a push,” said Caps defenseman Mike Green. “But I think a lot of us were tired. But if we don’t kill those penalties we don’t even get a point.”

The loss overshadowed another dynamite performance by Green. The 23-year-old continued his torrid pace, scoring a pair of goals in the second period. Green tied an NHL record for a defenseman with a goal in seven straight games. He joins Boston’s Mike O’Connell, who accomplished that feat in 1984. It was goals No. 20 and 21 for Green, who helped the Caps keep pace in the second period after New York scored three times. He has nine goals and seven assists during that seven-game streak and leads all NHL defensemen in goals and points (49).

“I honestly didn’t even realize it until [Tuesday],” Green said of his historic run. “I tried not to think about it before the game tonight. But I’m pretty happy right now.”

The two teams traded the lead four different times entering the third period. Eric Fehr and Tomas Fleischmann each scored for the Capitals in the first period. It was Fleischmann’s first goal since Jan. 14. Callahan, Lauri Korpikoski, Markus Naslund, and Paul Mara all registered goals for New York. The game was tied at 4 after two periods.

Callahan’s shootout winner was odd if only because neither the Caps’ coaching staff nor Theodore was completely sure about the rule. Because the puck bounced off the goalie after hitting the crossbar it was ruled a legal play by the game officials.

“We’re disappointed when we don’t get two [points] every night. But I thought we played a pretty good game,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We had a couple breakdowns. I thought our penalty killing was really good. That team played hard and I thought we matched them.”

Caps notes

» Rookie forward Jay Beagle made his NHL debut – the seventh Washington player to do so this season. Beagle acquitted himself well. He was even foiled by New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist on a golden scoring chance in the slot at 10:18 of the second period.

» It was everything I thought it was going to be,” said Beagle, who lost both his linemates – Donald Brashear and Matt Bradley – to fighting majors within three seconds of each other early in the first period. “Good, fast-paced game, a tough loss in the shootout. But it went well.”

» Forward Tomas Fleischmann was also happy to contribute a goal in the first period, his 16th of the year.

“But we had to play smarter after [Green’s] first goal [to make it 3-2], better defense,” Fleischmann said. “But they kept coming and scored two more. We were expecting more chances in the third, but because of the penalties, couldn’t do any more.”

» The Caps were without forwards Viktor Kozlov (groin) and Alexander Semin, who suffered an undisclosed injury during practice on Monday. Defensemen John Erskine and Staffan Kronwall were healthy scratches. Both Semin and Kozlov are listed as day-to-day.

» Washington next travels to Florida, where it faces the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and the Panthers on Sunday.