Mike Richards scores 1st goal, gets standing O in Capitals win

Mike Richards can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Held without a point through his first 14 games with Washington, the veteran forward gave his new team a 3-1 lead Monday by drilling home his first goal as a member of the Capitals after Tom Wilson knocked the puck loose out from under the glove of Arizona Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue.

"With my luck, I thought it'd be disallowed," Richards quipped after the game. A scrum ensued shortly after he scored, but his goal was met with a great reception from the Verizon Center fans who gave the 31-year-old a lengthy standing ovation.

The goal would stand as the game-winner with the Capitals hanging on to win 3-2. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin scored the other two Washington goals with the captain netting his league-leading 39th of the season, while Braden Holtby earned his NHL-best 38th win.

The Capitals have now won nine of their last 10 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings by a whopping 17 points ahead of their nearest competitors, the Florida Panthers.