WASHINGTON -- Heres an audacious way to get a promotion: Tell the big boss what hes been doing wrong. Brian MacLellan did just that when he interviewed with owner Ted Leonsis for the Washington Capitals general manager job. "He led off with some of the things that I have to do to be a better owner," Leonsis said. "I thought that was very brave and very astute, because you dont want to hear things like that." MacLellans strategy helped him pull an upset. Leonsis was looking for a new direction and hadnt intended to promote from within after George McPhees contract wasnt renewed, but MacLellans candour helped him rise above the 15 or so candidates and land the job. "I didnt think I had anything to lose," MacLellan said. MacLellan has been with Washington for 13 seasons, including seven as assistant GM, but most of his work had been in scouting and he had rarely spoken to Leonsis. His message: When everyone in the organization is not on the same page, including the owner, the product on the ice suffers. Such was the case last season with McPhee and coach Adam Oates, and the result was a team that missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years despite 51 goals from Alex Ovechkin. "I think the important point I was trying to make is that I think the team feels when theres a disconnect," MacLellan said, "or (when) theres not a unified philosophy from ownership to manger to coach." MacLellan was introduced alongside Barry Trotz, the longtime Nashville Predators coach who replaces Oates. While MacLellan was one of many GM candidates, Trotz was the only coach the Capitals interviewed. His only hang-up was that he had to wait for a GM to get in place, and to make sure it was someone who shared a similar vision. "Its where I started," said Trotz, who coached the Capitals top minor league affiliate in the 1990s before spending 15 seasons with the Predators, "so I feels like I was coming home." Leonsis said he was keen to get someone with a solid track record after five consecutive McPhee hires who had no previous NHL head coaching experience. "We are not rebuilding the team," Leonsis said. "But we are going to refresh the team." Ovechkin has been forced to adjust to multiple offensive systems through several coaching changes in recent years. One of Trotzs priorities will be to sit down with the three-time league MVP and discuss the way forward. "My job as a coach is to find a way to allow Alex and the other players to reach their potential as a group, and be able to play together," Trotz said. "One of the very fundamental things, if you have a kindergarten, they give you your report card and they say, Do you play well with others? My job is to get everybody to play well with the others." Trotz downplayed his reputation as a defensive-minded coach, saying he didnt have the same firepower in Nashville that hell have in Washington. "I dont want to take anything away from the Capitals offensively. ... (They have) great power plays and great individuals that can put the puck in the net," Trotz said. "I didnt have that in Nashville. I had some real good players, but not enough up front, so we become a little more of a defensive team." Trotz said he doesnt see why the Capitals cant get back in the Stanley Cup mix right away, assuming they can forge the unified gameplan envisioned by MacLellan. "Theres enough ability here," Trotz said. "We just have to forge a little bit of an identity going forward." Keith Magnuson Jersey . The photograph shows Parker and a French comedian making a gesture known in France as a "quenelle," which critics describe as inverted Nazi salute. Parker said in a statement released through the Spurs that the photograph was taken three years ago. 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NEW YORK -- Ryan Callahan heard the Madison Square Garden crowd roar loudly each time he scored for the New York Rangers against Colorado. Those cheers seemed more special this time because the captains run on Broadway could soon be over. The adoration surely sounded much nicer to Callahan than all the recent trade talk. Callahan shook that off and scored two first-period goals to lead New York to its fourth straight win, 5-1 over the Avalanche on Tuesday night. Callahan is eligible for free agency after the season, and if he doesnt reach a new contract agreement with the Rangers before two upcoming trade deadlines, he could be sent packing. "I try not to bring that business to the rink," Callahan said. "I try to concentrate on the Rangers and what were doing here. Thats my main focus. "That is where I want to be, on the ice playing for the Rangers." Callahan staked New York to a 2-0 lead with goals 3:19 apart. Defenceman Anton Stralman added his first of the season in the second period, and Derick Brassard and Brad Richards scored in the third -- with an assist from Callahan -- in the Rangers 10th win in 13 games. After Callahan was stopped with a chance at a hat trick, Brassard made it 4-1 at 1:58. Richards finished the scoring with 1:36 left. Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for his 297th win, four shy of Mike Richters club record. The Rangers looked well rested after a three-day break and took advantage of the Avalanche, who played for the third time in four days -- including an overtime win at New Jersey on Monday. "I dont think they came out very hard," Lundqvist said. "We set the tone." Gabriel Landeskog, Lundqvists teammate with Sweden in the Olympics, scored in the second, and Russian Olympian Semyon Varlamov stopped 38 shots, but the Avalanche had a four-game winning streak snapped. The shots were 16-2 in New Yorks favour at one point, but the game was still scoreless. Callahan took care of that. "Even though we didnt score early, we came out and created chances," Lundqvist said. "When we finally got that first one, I felt like we were doing so many good things." Carl Hagelin chipped the puck away from defenceman Jan Hejda in the Rangers zone and raced up left wing. Hagelin sent a crisp pass across to Callahan, who took it at the bottom of the right circle, shifted to his backhand and scored with 5:44 left in the first. The Ranngers continued their barrage before Callahan connected again.dddddddddddd Brad Richards made a pass from the right circle into the slot to Callahan for a quick one-timer past Varlamov. Callahan raised both arms over his head and then dropped them to his waist as he let out an emphatic yell to celebrate his 11th goal with 2:25 remaining in the frame. "Ryans been playing hard since the first game," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Hes the captain of the team. He prepares real well and competes every shift. "Tonight was one of those nights where he did exactly the same thing, except he was able to finish a couple of great setups." New York ended the first period with a 20-4 edge in shots. "Those three days (off) definitely helped us," Callahan said. "We jumped out in the first and we get that momentum. We seemed to roll with it and never really gave it back." Colorado briefly cut the deficit in half when Landeskog turned a faceoff win in the Rangers end into his 17th goal. Lundqvist had kept the Avalanche at bay with a save on a hard shot by Nathan McKinnon during a power play. But following the faceoff, McKinnon sent a pass from below the goal line out front to Landeskog for the goal at 6:37. The Avalanche were down 31-11 in shots but trailed only 2-1. Just 53 seconds later, the Rangers went back in front by two. Stralman took a pass from Mats Zuccarello and wristed a shot from just inside the blue line through traffic and past Varlamov for his first goal in 60 games, dating to April 19, 2013. Colorado had a great opportunity to get back into the game late in the second when back-to-back penalties gave the Avalanche a two-man advantage for 1:50. They spent plenty of time with the puck in the Rangers end, but put very few shots on Lundqvist. When they did, he turned them aside. "At 2-1, we came right back and made it 3-1, and we killed off that full 5-on-3," Vigneault said. "Those were probably the biggest points." Colorado mustered three shots on that double penalty and 14 overall in the second period, but still faced a two-goal deficit entering the third. "Five-on-three -- you dont get many of those," Landeskog said. "We just werent good enough." NOTES: It was Callahans second two-goal game this season. He had scored only twice in his previous 19 games. ... Landeskog extended his point streak to seven games (three goals, six assists). ' ' '