By Lewis Gould
It didn’t take long for Anthony Mantha to make his presence felt on the Caps.
He had two points in his Washington debut, Alex Ovechkin scored the 728th goal of his NHL career and the the Caps beat the Flyers 6-1 for their third consecutive victory.
The East Division-leading Capitals went 3 for 3 on the power play as part of another offensive outburst. They routed the banged-up Boston Bruins 8-1 Sunday night on the eve of the trade deadline.
They gave up skilled young forward Jakub Vrana, a first-round pick and a second-rounder to get Mantha from Detroit in the hopes of better positioning themselves for another deep playoff run. So far, so good: Mantha picked up an assist on Tom Wilson’s goal in the first period, then showed off his shot in the second for his 12th of the season.
Mantha said the assist calmed his nerves and allowed him to feel comfortable in his first game in a Capitals uniform.
“I can’t ask for much better in my first game over here,” Mantha said. “Obviously, when a team comes to get you, you want to look the best you can and I think tonight was just a step forward.”
Ovechkin scored his team-leading 22nd in the third, beating Brian Elliott from his trademark spot inside the faceoff circle on the power play. The Capitals’ captain is now three back of Marcel Dionne for fifth on the career goals list.
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