Jimmy Vesey and Artemi Panarin lead Rangers to 4-1 win over Capitals in Game 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Matt Rempe helped the New York Rangers get their postseason off to a strong start.

Rempe and Artemi Panarin scored 33 seconds apart in the second period, and the Presidents' Trophy-winning Rangers beat the Washington Capitals 4-1 on Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Jimmy Vesey had a goal and an assist, Chris Kreider also scored, Barclay Goodrow had two assists for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin finished with 20 saves.

“It's obviously good to get that first one,” said New York's Peter Laviolette, who became the first coach in NHL history to lead six different teams to the Stanley Cup playoffs. “There's things we could have done better. ... You need to win one at a time, so for that the result was good.”

The Rangers, seeking their first championship in 30 years, won their third straight and 11th in the last 14 games.

Martin Fehervary scored and Charlie Lindgren stopped 27 shots for the Capitals, who had won three straight and four of their last five games to earn the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

“We've got to do a way better job offensively,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “It's no secret. We struggled all year but we've got to find ways to create more on the interior. We've got to skate out of pressure, we've got to keep pucks off the yellow. We continually ran pucks around.”

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night.

Leading 3-1 after two periods, the Rangers outshot the Capitals 15-6 in the third.

Kreider made it 4-1 as he put a backhander past Lindgren on a breakaway from the right side with 3:43 left in the third period. It was his 41st postseason goal, extending his franchise record.

The Rangers bottled up Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, who had no shots on goal. He was held without a shot only five times in 79 games during the season.

“We all understand it’s the playoffs," Ovechkin said. "Forget about this one and move forward.”

After a scoreless first period in which the teams combined for 11 shots on goal, there were four goals in the second period.

Rempe got the Rangers on the scoreboard first, sweeping in the puck from the left side off a deflection across the front of the net by Vesey at 4:17.

Rempe, the 21-year-old rookie who has garnered a lot of attention for his physical play and fights, drew chants of “Rem-pe! Rem-pe!” from the crowd.

“That was a big goal to put energy in the building, maybe because it was him, too, put a little more extra juice in the building,” Laviolette said. “And then be able to get another one right after that. That was a turning point in the game.”

Panarin, who had a career-high 49 goals during the regular season, made it 2-0 just 33 seconds later at 4:50 as he fired a shot past Lindgren from the right circle. Alexis Lafreniere knocked defenseman Vincent Iorio off the puck and shoulder-first into the boards. Lafreniere then send the puck to Trocheck, who sent across to Panarin for the goal.

Iorio went to the dressing room after the play and did not return. Carbery did not have an update on his status.

“I don't think it was that, it was close, it was borderline,” he said of the hit. “I feel bad for him because he put himself in a tough spot. Probably needs to move the puck quicker there and get it out of his hands. Then he hangs on to it, wobbles it.”

Vesey made it 3-0 as he got the puck off a draw in the right circle and fired it past Lindgren at 6:23. Rempe in front knocked down Beck Malenstyn to give Vesey some space for his shot.

“(Rempe) scoring sent the fans crazy, and we scored two more goals in the next few minutes,” Vesey said. “He definitely gets the crowd into the game and as the team with home-ice advantage, you're going to try to feed off that energy in the crowd.”

Fehervary deflected a shot by Tom Wilson off his foot and past Shesterkin to get the Capitals on the scoreboard at 7:31.

Rempe was whistled for charging to give the Capitals a power play 2:07 into the game. The Capitals managed just one shot on goal during the advantage and had several shots blocked. They also went a 14:09 stretch in the period without a shot on goal as the Rangers had an 11-7 advantage.

The Rangers improved to 21-9 in the openers of a seven-game series at home.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

New York Rangers' Artemi Panarin shoots during the first period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Washington Capitals' Connor McMichael, right, and New York Rangers' Adam Fox compete for the puck during the first period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Rangers' Jimmy Vesey, center, races for the puck with Washington Capitals' T.J. Oshie, left, and Dylan McIlrath during the first period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Rangers' Kaapo Kakko, left, and Washington Capitals' Trevor van Riemsdyk, right, compete for the puck during the first period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Washington Capitals' Martin Fehervary, center right, reacts after scoring during the second period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Rangers' Artemi Panarin, left, celebrates after his goal with Ryan Lindgren during the second period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin shoots during the second period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin makes a save during the second period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad, left, chases the puck during the second period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Rangers' Vincent Trocheck, left, celebrates after a goal by Artemi Panarin during the second period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

BRUSSELS (AP) — Germany's top diplomat on Friday said Russia will face consequences after accusing its military intelligence service of the “absolutely intolerable” hacking of domestic targets, including the governing coalition's leading party. NATO and European Union member countries said they won't let Russia’s “malicious" cyberspace behavior go unanswered.

Relations between Russia and Germany were already tense, with Germany providing military support to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Russian state hackers were behind the hacking of emails of the Social Democrats, the leading party in the governing coalition. Officials said they did so by exploiting Microsoft Outlook.

The German Interior Ministry said in a statement that the hacking campaign began at least as early as March 2022 — a month after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine — with emails at Social Democrat party headquarters accessed beginning that December. It said German companies, including in the defense and aerospace sectors, as well as targets related to the war were also a focus.

The statement said international efforts led by the FBI shut down in late January a botnet of compromised network devices used by the Russian hackers — known as APT28 or Fancy Bear — in the cyberespionage scheme.

“Russian state hackers attacked Germany in cyberspace,” Baerbock said at a news conference in the Australian city of Adelaide. She attributed the hack to a unit of Russia's GRU military intelligence unit.

“This is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences,” she said, without specifying what they might be.

The Council of the EU and the Czech Foreign Ministry said Czechia's institutions have also been targeted by the same group. Both German and Czech officials said the GRU hackers leveraged a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook.

In a statement by the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, the bloc’s nations said they “strongly condemn the malicious cyber campaign" by Fancy Bear "against Germany and Czechia.”

The EU noted that it had previously imposed sanctions on individuals and entities associated with the group for targeting the German parliament in 2015. It said it will not tolerate the continuation of such attacks, particularly with EU elections upcoming in June.

NATO accused Fancy Bear of targeting “other national governmental entities, critical infrastructure operators and other entities across the Alliance," including in Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden.

“We are determined to employ the necessary capabilities in order to deter, defend against and counter the full spectrum of cyberthreats to support each other, including by considering coordinated responses,” said the North Atlantic Council, the principal political decision-making body within NATO.

Baerbock is visiting Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, with the trip focusing on security policy as China pushes for influence in the Pacific region.

“The defense cooperation between Germany and Australia is close and we would like to deepen it further and together expand it, because we are in a situation where we face similar threats,” said Baerbock, who is the first German foreign minister to visit Australia in 13 years.

Discussions between Baerbock and Australia counterpart Penny Wong centered on the conflict in Gaza. “I think we all understand that the only path out of this cycle of violence that we see in the Middle East at such great cost is one that ultimately ensures a two-state solution,” Wong said.

Associated Press Technology writer Frank Bajak contributed from Boston.

Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, left, speaks with Lewis O'Brien, the oldest living Kaurna man, in Adelaide, Friday, May 3, 2024, during a ceremony to mark the return of four significant cultural heritage items to the Kaurna people from the collection of the Grassi Museum in Leipzig. (Michael Errey/Pool Photo via AP)

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, center, poses with Lewis O'Brien, the oldest living Kaurna man, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, left, in Adelaide, Friday, May 3, 2024, during a ceremony to mark the return of four significant cultural heritage items to the Kaurna people from the collection of the Grassi Museum in Leipzig. (Michael Errey/Pool Photo via AP)

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, left, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong arrive for a news conference in Adelaide, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Michael Errey/Pool Photo via AP)

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, left, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong attend a news conference in Adelaide, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Michael Errey/Pool Photo via AP)

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks in Adelaide, Friday, May 3, 2024, during a ceremony to mark the return of four significant cultural heritage items to the indigenous Kaurna people from the collection of the Grassi Museum in Leipzig. (Michael Errey/Pool Photo via AP)