WINNIPEG www.sanjosesharksteamshop.com , Manitoba — It’s no wonder the Washington Capitals are suffering from a serious Stanley Cup hangover.It’s not uncommon for the winners of hockey’s holy grail to get off to a slow start the following season but when you consider how much liquor the Capitals players consumed during a seemingly summer-long party — particularly captain Alex Ovechkin — it’s conceivable that their heads could ache until Christmas.And the Winnipeg Jets, who host the champs at Bell MTS Place on Wednesday, don’t want to give them any secret cures.Article continues below ...The Capitals are outside of the top eight spots in the Eastern Conference and granted, there are still more than 60 games to go, but they have a target on their backs that they haven’t had previously.Jets coach Paul Maurice isn’t surprised the Capitals have stumbled out of the gate but he also doesn’t expect it to be long before they right the ship.“I would think coming off the playoff high that they came off, (the issue of) getting as excited about a game in October or November has to be real. When you win a Stanley Cup, you’re usually powerful enough to get through these, I don’t know if they’re dog days for them, but the first 40 games. They know they can amp their game up,” Maurice said.“There’s such a huge difference between playoff hockey and regular season hockey. Emotions that are easily attached in the playoffs are sometimes hard to find (in the regular season). They’re still a really powerful team.”The main story line of any Jets-Capitals contest is the goal-scoring rivalry between Ovechkin, the seven-time Rocket Richard trophy winner, and Jets sniper Patrik Laine.Ovechkin topped the league in goals once again last season with 49, outpacing Laine’s 44.Both should get at least a few good opportunities to add to their current totals — Ovechkin has 12 while Laine has eight — as the Jets (34 percent) and Capitals (30.3 percent) boast the top two power plays in the NHL this season.Ovechkin has filled his boots against the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers during his career, notching 47 goals and 91 points in 63 games.Laine San Jose Sharks T-Shirts Womens , meanwhile, who has been heating up the last couple of weeks, has yet to score a goal at even strength this season. Seven of his goals have been scored on the power play while one was shot into an empty net. He has a team-high 64 shots on goal.The Capitals come to town on the heels of defeating the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on the road Tuesday night, stopping a two-game slide. They received a boost from right winger Tom Wilson, who had his 20-game suspension reduced to 14 earlier in the day by an arbitrator, and scored a goal in his return to put the Capitals up 2-0 late in the first period. He also was assessed a penalty for goaltender interference after the puck crossed the goal line.“That was a first for me to score and get a penalty on the same play,” Wilson said in a post-game scrum. “I was just going hard to the net and (defenseman Dmitry Orlov) put it right on my tape. I was trying to do everything I could to get out of the way, so I’ll take the goal and the kill.”Jets forward Mathieu Perreault left practice with an apparent leg injury Tuesday but Maurice said he expects he’ll be fine Wednesday. PHILADELPHIA (AP) Dave Hakstol is more worried about two points than a pretty performance right now. That said, the Philadelphia Flyers coach and his team have some work to do before the playoffs begin.Travis Konecny scored twice, Claude Giroux had three assists and Philadelphia beat the New York Rangers 4-3 on Thursday night to pick up an important two points and stay atop the wild-card standings in the Eastern Conference.Jakub Voracek had a goal and an assist and Oskar Lindblom also scored for the Flyers (38-25-12, 88 points), who won for just the fourth time in 12 games to remain within one point of streaking Columbus for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets beat Florida 4-0 on Thursday for their 10th straight victory.Philadelphia is six points in front of New Jersey, which was idle Thursday and owns the second wild-card spot. Florida is seven points back of the Flyers but has three more games remaining than Philadelphia, which has seven contests left.”We were just sporadic San Jose Sharks Hoodies Womens ,” Hakstol said. ”There are things we have to clean up and do a little bit better, but the bottom line is the two points at the end of the night.”Jesper Fast had two goals and an assist and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers, who are playing out the string after being active sellers at the trading deadline.”I thought there was a lot of fight and compete in our team tonight,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said.With the Flyers’ top two goalies sidelined by injury, and Petr Mrazek, who Philadelphia acquired to fill in, ineffective of late, Hakstol went with little-used rookie Alex Lyon. In his 10th career game, Lyon made 33 saves to improve to 4-2-1.”He doesn’t quit on shots,” Giroux said. ”He’s very solid.”Lindblom scored eight seconds into the third period to give Philadelphia a 4-2 advantage. Nolan Patrick took the initial shot, and the rebound fell in front to the rookie Lindblom, who backhanded in his second goal.”We did a good job of grinding it out,” Giroux said.Fast scored a similar goal for the Rangers, backhanding a rebound of Rob O’Gara’s shot 1:14 later to make it 4-3. It was the second goal of the game for Fast San Jose Sharks Hats Womens , who extended his point streak to seven games (three goals, six assists).Lyon’s best save came with 13 1/2 minutes remaining when he robbed Chris Kreider with a lunging stop with his right shoulder. He also made an excellent save with 12 minutes left in the second period on Zibanejad’s 2-on-1 chance.”Saves like that are big,” Hakstol said.Rangers rookie Alexandar Georgiev started in goal in place of Henrik Lundqvist (neck/back), who was injured with five minutes left in Monday’s 5-3 loss to Columbus. Georgiev made 32 saves.Voraeck muscled through three Rangers to break a 1-all tie 3:46 into the second period, shooting high over Georgiev’s glove.Konecny scored his second of the night on a deflection of Radko Gudas‘ shot from the point with 11:22 left in the second to put the Flyers up 3-1.But the Flyers’ second-year forward found himself on the bench for the last 7:20 of the contest because Hakstol didn’t like the way Konecny was protecting the puck.”Individuals have to be better in how we manage the puck,” Hakstol said.Fast pulled the Rangers within a goal with 2:57 remaining in the period when he sent the puck toward the net from the corner and it deflected off defenseman Ivan Provorov and past Lyon’s left pad.Konecny netted his 21st of the season, a wrist shot from the slot past Georgiev’s glove side, to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead 7:56 into the contest.Zibanejad continued his recent hot streak and tied the game at 1 with 6:07 left in the first when he got in alone on Lyon and beat him through the five-hole to extend his point streak to six games (7 goals, 3 assists).NOTES: Injured Flyers goalies Michal Neuvirth (lower body) and Brian Elliott (core muscle surgery) did drills during Thursday’s morning skate. Neuvirth is aiming to return during the Flyers’ upcoming three-game road trip while Elliott is about two weeks from returning. … Provorov played in his 157th straight game to start his career, breaking the club record for most consecutive contests by a Flyers newcomer. … The teams wrap up the season series in the regular-season finale for both on April 7 in Philadelphia. The Flyers lead the series 2-1.UP NEXTRangers: Host Buffalo on Saturday night.Flyers: Start three-game road trip at Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon.—