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Capitals aim to continue hot start

Oct 12, 2007 - 2:52 PM Washington (3-0-0) at NY Rangers (1-2-0) 7:00 pm EDT

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Early in the season, the Washington Capitals rate as one of the NHL most surprising teams.

The Capitals seek their first 4-0 start in 10 years on Friday when they visit the New York Rangers.

In its last game, Washington beat the New York Islanders, 2-1, on Monday to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2002-03 - the last season the team made the playoffs.

Since then, the Capitals have finished in last place. Their only 4-0 start in franchise history time came in 1997-98. The three previous times Washington started 3-0 it made the playoffs.

Viktor Kozlov, who scored a career-high 25 goals with the Islanders last season before signing with the Capitals, is tied with Alexander Ovechkin for the team lead in scoring with three points.

The key to Washington's strong start has been its improved play on defense as the Capitals have allowed only two goals, one season after they ranked 26th in the league with a 3.35 goals-against average. Washington has killed off all 12 of its shorthanded situations.

The Rangers return home after scoring only one goal in road losses to Ottawa and the New York Islanders. Defenseman Fedor Tyutin scored the lone goal in the two games.

While the Capitals have yet to allow a power-play goal, New York is 0-for-15 with the man advantage.

The Rangers also need their big guns to get going. Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Scott Gomez still have not scored their first goals of the season.