Capitals' Alex Ovechkin gets last laugh after big hit from Rangers' Ryan Lindgren

It's safe to say that no New York Rangers player has lost as much blood this season as Ryan Lindgren.

After spending the first few minutes of the second period getting his face stitched up — a common occurrence for the 23-year-old defenseman — after he was hit by the puck while he was sitting on the bench, he re-entered the game and made a statement with one eyebrow-raising play Friday night.

Alex Ovechkin hasn't been taken down too many times during his illustrious 16-year career, but a crunching shoulder-to-chest blow from Lindgren sent the Washington Capitals' captain to the ice.

“It was a great hit,” Ovechkin said. “He hit my stick. It got broken. It was a good hit. It’s hockey.”

The big hit served as symbol of a tougher, more defensively sound Rangers team that refused to be pushed around. But as he has so many times, Ovechkin would get the last laugh.

The 35-year-old scored twice in the final 6:42 to rip a win out from underneath the Rangers, instead handing them a stinging 2-1 loss in the nation's capital.

"It’s tough to stomach because we felt like we played pretty well," Rangers forward Chris Kreider said. "We played a really good road game. They jumped on two big opportunities in the third (but) it was close throughout. We were able to limit chances from a very good offensive team, so definitely a lot of good takeaways. Guys were out there working hard for each other and doing the little things."

The Rangers (12-13-4) were leading 1-0 for most of the night, with Alexandar Georgiev seemingly on his way to a second consecutive shutout.

But Ovechkin tied the score by camping out in front of the net and cleaning up Evgeny Kuznetsov's rebound. Then he scored the winner on a similar play, this time by jumping on a rebound from John Carlson with 3:33 remaining.

"He's obviously known for those pretty goals from the outside, but he does a good job of getting to the net and getting his big body there," Kreider said. "He was able to pop those two."

Said Ovechkin: “Sometimes you have to get those really gritty ones. It’s still the same whether it’s goal from my spot or whatever. It’s most important goal, and it’ll take it.”

Contributing: Associated Press