Nylander finished with a goal and two assists while forward Alexander Semin scored twice. The Caps (2-1) dominated puck possession throughout the game, allowing Vancouver (2-1) just three shots on goal through the first 45 minutes of play.

By then Washington had a decisive 5-1 lead and had chased Luongo from the game as Vancouver switched to back-up Curtis Sanford. The Caps, who allowed just 10 shots total, also received a power-play goal from defenseman Mike Green in the first period, his third of the year.

“It just felt as some sort of a relief since I’ve been away for so long,” said Nylander, who missed the final three months of last season after shoulder surgery. “We played really well tonight. It was a great feeling out there.”

The penalty shot came about because Vancouver defenseman Willie Mitchell actually shot part of a broken stick at Nylander while the Caps were buzzing in the Canucks’ zone during a power play late in the second period.

That goal was one bright spot of many for Washington, including the play of Semin, who opened the scoring at 2:54 of the first period with a backhanded flip over Luongo’s shoulder.

The mercurial winger displayed some impressive grit on the play, keeping the puck alive along the right boards and shuffling down low to Nylander, who drove from behind the net, took contact and had the puck pop into the air in front of Luongo. Semin was there for the rebound.

He added another goal at 5:23 of the second to make it 4-1 and now has three goals and three assists in three games. That second tally started when two Canucks collided in the Caps’ zone and set up a breakout pass that ended with Semin smacking a shot just wide of Luongo’s near post. But he stayed with the play and was in position when the puck came back to the right side, lifting another shot over Luongo.

“The team has been together for three or four years now. The guys have got used to playing with each other,” Semin said through an interpreter. “Now they know where everybody is so you can just pass and know the player is going to be there. There’s chemistry with this team.”

Green notched his third power-play goal of the season at 16:11 of the first on a pass from Nylander that made it 2-1. A goal from Green is no surprise, of course. But one from defenseman Milan Jurcina? That unlikely scenario happened at 4:17 of the second, just 66 seconds before Semin’s second goal. Forward Boyd Gordon won a faceoff, forward Chris Clark corralled the loose puck and immediately passed to Jurcina at the point, who unleashed a low liner past Luongo for a 3-1 advantage. Jurcina recorded just one goal all of last season.

“I’ve got no words,” said Luongo, who allowed five goals on 25 shots. “It was a tough game from beginning to end. It was not a pretty game.”

Jurcina was paired on defense with Sergei Fedorov. The 38-year-old veteran center has played on the back line occasionally during his brilliant NHL career and he was solid there again on Monday night. Fedorov had played the final two preseason games against Philadelphia and Boston on defense to prepare for just such a situation.

The move allowed Caps coach Bruce Boudreau to insert center Boyd Gordon into the game on the third line and shift Nylander to the second. Gordon, one of the team’s top faceoff men, had been scratched during the first two games. He won 5-of-8 faceoffs against the Canucks, including the one that led to Jurcina’s goal.

“There’s a sense of calmness when you’ve got Fedorov on the point,” Boudreau said. “He gives good passes, talks a lot … like a general. If I was out there and looking at a future Hall-of-Famer playing at my left side, it gives you a sense of ease.”

Caps notes


» Caps right wing Viktor Kozlov left the game in the second period with what team officials would only describe as “an injury.” Kozlov took just nine shifts and had 8:25 of ice time. According to a source, the injury is unrelated to the groin strain he suffered during training camp. Team officials listed Kozlov as day-to-day.

»  Prior to center Michael Nylander’s penalty-shot goal in the second period, the Caps had missed six straight, including one by Alex Ovechkin in the season-opening loss to Atlanta last Friday. The last time Washington converted a penalty shot was Nov. 23, 2005, when Matt Pettinger scored vs. Tampa Bay.

» Caps goalie Brent Johnson didn’t have much work, facing just 10 Vancouver shots. But that was enough to earn his 100th career victory.

“Besides the [four] power plays, they might have had the puck in our zone steady maybe two-and-a-half minutes. Our guys were flying all over them. If not for that first little [power-play goal by Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler] it would have been an unbelievably perfect game.”

» The 10 shots on goal against the Capitals is the fewest in a single-game in team history, besting the 11 shots allowed to Florida on Nov. 3, 1995. The Caps lost that home game, 3-2.

» Caps forward Alex Semin was named first star of the game. Nylander was second and Sergei Fedorov third. Forward Brooks Laich awarded the post-game construction hat – given to the player who works the hardest in pursuit of a victory – to center Nicklas Backstrom, who did not score, but won six of 11 faceoffs.

» Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo lost to the Capitals for the first time in 11 games. Washington was 0-7-3 against him dating back to Feb. 27. 2004.

» The Caps have now won eight consecutive regular-season games at Verizon Center dating back to the end of last season.

» Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault: “You have to give credit where credit is due. [Washington] played a really strong game where the skill level was evident and the execution was really, really good. In our case, I can only see two positives – the play of (goalie ) Curtis Sanford and that we were all awful at the same time. We had a bad game. We’ll regroup and get ready for Detroit (on Thursday).

» Sad news from Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, where 19-year-old prospect Alexei Cherepanov died after collapsing during a game between his team, Avangard Omsk, and Vityaz. Cherepanov was drafted in the first-round in 2007 by the New York Rangers and was considered one of that organization’s top prospects. Cherepanov could have played in North America this season, but wanted one more year in the KHL playing alongside former Rangers star Jaromir Jagr, now with Omsk.