NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals -- Game 7: Rangers 5 - Capitals 0

If you are going to run a team out of the building, make sure you push them past the exits.  If you don’t, you risk being in a world of hurt when the momentum fades.

And thus did it happen to the Washington Capitals as they fell to the New York Rangers, 5-0, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at Verizon Center on Monday night.  The 5-0 score was the worst defeat the Caps suffered in a playoff game since losing to Pittsburgh, 7-1, in Game 6 of the first round of the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs.  It was the most lopsided Game 7 loss in team history.

It did not start that way.  The Caps owned the first 13 minutes of the game, outshooting the Rangers, 9-5, and out-attempting the visitors by a 22-12 margin.  And as if to punctuate the manner in which the Capitals were dominating play, Alex Ovechkin recorded five hits in those first 13 minutes, and the Caps enjoyed a 12-4 edge in faceoffs.

Then, the Rangers scored a goal.  It happened as it so often does, with not one, but two missed chances at the other end by the Caps just before the Rangers converted.  Mike Green broke behind Anton Stralman to collect a loose puck and skate in alone on goalie Henrik Lundqvist on a semi-breakaway.  Lundqvist stopped Green’s drive with his right pad.  Green slid into the end boards, but from his side he flicked the puck in front. Lundqvist got just enough of his stick on it to alter its direction before Tom Wilson could bury it on the follow up.  The Rangers broke back in numbers, Chris Kreider dropping the puck for Asham just inside the Caps’ blue line.  Asham stepped in and snapped a shot past Braden Holtby, and the well-crafted momentum the Caps built in the first 13 minutes was gone.

The Caps would never get it back.  In the next 47 minutes they would manage 47 shot attempts (26 on goal), but none would get past Lundqvist, while the Rangers rode the efforts of the lesser known lights on their roster – Taylor Pyatt, Michael Del Zotto, and Mats Zuccarello, with a goal by Ryan Callahan thrown in – to make the eagerly anticipated contest turn into a chamber of horrors for Holtby, the Caps, and their fans.  When it was finally over, the Rangers had a ticket to the second round, and the Capitals ended their season in the first round of the post-season for the 14^th time in 24 playoff appearances.

Other stuff...

-- Before tonight the Caps appeared in 11 Game 7’s in club history, and in eight of those instances the game ended in a one-goal decision.  In fact, the Caps had never played anything but one-goal decisions in Game 7’s against teams other than the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Until tonight.

-- Alex Ovechkin had a shot on goal at the 13:54 mark of the first period.  It would be his only shot on goal for the game.

-- Nicklas Backstrom did not record his first shot on goal until the 17:44 mark of the second period.  By that time, the Rangers had a 3-0 lead.

-- In one of the more bizarre turns of this game, Karl Alzner led the team in shots on goal with five.  It tied a career high (set on April 16^th against Toronto) and set a career post-season high.

-- Braden Holtby would end this series with consistency issues.  In four games he allowed one or no goals, and in three others he allowed four or more.  He allowed five on 27 shots tonight.

-- Much will be written in the days to come about the shortcomings of the top line in this game and this series, but the second line was brutal.  Mike Ribeiro, Eric Fehr, and Troy Brouwer combined for five shots on goal, but the killer was Ribeiro and Fehr being on ice for four of the five Rangers goals, and Brouwer being on for three.

-- Amazingly enough, the Caps were 21-for-32 on offensive zone draws (65.6 percent).  They could generate no offense off their good fortune, though.

-- Alex Ovechkin (13 hits) and Mike Ribeiro (5) combined for almost half the total number of hits for the team (39).  They combined for four shots on goal.  A hundred times out of a hundred, that’s the wrong order of those numbers.

-- Speaking of which, ten skaters had more hits than shots on goal.  They needed to make things tougher on Henrik Lundqvist than that.

-- There might have been one Cap who played past expectations in this one – Tom Wilson.  In nine minutes, two shots on goal (four attempts), three hits, and a takeaway.

-- Seven Rangers scored either their first point or their first goal of the series in this game (Kreider, Pyatt, Del Zotto, Eminger, Zuccarello, Dorsett, Callahan).  

In the end, it is too soon to render a verdict on this season.  We will do that in the days to come.  But this team lacked discipline in this game.  Not the discipline to avoid taking penalties, but the discipline to play hard, consistent, and relentlessly over 60 minutes.  Tonight they were the equivalent of a Roman candle -- a lot of light and noise for a short time, then…silence.  It was not the referees, it was not the back-to-back games, it was not even as much the Rangers.

It was themselves.

NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals -- Game 6: Rangers 1 - Capitals 0

There will be a Game 7.

The home team won for the sixth time in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series between the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers when the Rangers held off the Capitals, 1-0, at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon.

One was all the Rangers needed in this one, thanks to a 27-save effort by goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who earned his seventh career playoff shutout.  Derick Brassard scored the game’s only goal mid-way through the second period, when from his perch at the top of the offensive zone he let fly with a slap shot that might have hit two Capitals on its way to the net before bending down and under goalie Braden Holtby’s glove into the back of the net.  It might have avoided Jason Chimera out front, but it certainly seemed to hit defenseman Steve Oleksy’s arm on its way to the net. 

And so, the hockey gods smiled on the Rangers.  The Capitals could not solve Henrik Lundqvist on any of their 27 shots, and it set up a seventh game at Verizon Center on Monday night.

Other stuff…

-- The hockey gods were not the only ones smiling on the Rangers in this game.  The Rangers were not charged with any infractions until the teams had a full-on scrum at the conclusion of the game.  It was the first time that the Caps did not have a single power play in a playoff game since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Pittsburgh in 2009.

-- Meanwhile, the Rangers enjoyed five power plays over a 43 minute stretch from mid-way in the first period to mid-way in the third.  In three games in New York, the Rangers had 15 power plays to the Caps’ five.

-- And for those of you wondering... Rule 52.1 states: "Slew-footing is the act of a player using his leg or foot to knock or kick an opponent’s feet from under him, or pushes an opponent’s upper body backward with an arm or elbow, and at the same time with a forward motion of his leg, knocks or kicks the opponent’s feet from under him, causing him to fall violently to the ice."

...Having done it poorly (Dorsett was the one who tumbled to the ice) makes no difference.  Coming as it did near the boards, it was a dangerous play. 

-- Alex Ovechkin had picked the wrong time to go cold.  This was his fourth straight game without a point, his longest streak of the season and his longest since going four games without a point from November 12 through November 19^th in the 2011-2012 season.

-- And there is a difference between “cold” and “playing poorly” (not that the usual talking heads will acknowledge it).  Twelve shot attempts, five on goal, three hits, two blocked shots.  If there was a surprising number in there, it was 19:03 – his time on ice.  But then again, that’s what having no power plays will do.  Only Mike Green had more time on ice in this game (23:40, like Ovechkin all at even-strength).

-- If you are wondering, the Caps have gone into a Game 7 five times in team history having lost Game 6.  They have one win in those instances, that one coming last year in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against Boston.

-- There were 22 faceoffs in the Capitals’ end of the ice, 11 in the Rangers’ end.  A lot of that was the power play differential, but some of it was the territorial advantage the Rangers had in this game, too.

-- Of those 11 offensive zone faceoffs, the Caps won three, only one of those wins coming in the third period (1-for-4).

-- Tom Wilson played only 5:12 in this game, only one shift in the third period (that lasting one second).  Part of that was his having an equipment problem, but we wonder if the spare ice time is having effects on how the third and fourth lines are assembled over the course of a game and the effects on continuity.

-- A curious dynamic on the Ranger side…Brad Richards getting only 9:34 of ice time and only two shifts in the third period.  He hasn’t played well in this series, but this seemed to be an odd time to be sending a message to Richards, if that was what was going on.  Of course, if Richards has a big Game 7, John Tortorella will look like a genius.

-- You would not think energy would be an issue in Game 7, but the way ice time was parceled in Game 6 among the players of each team does raise the question with the second half of a back to back coming up.  The Rangers had two forwards with fewer than five minutes of ice time – Chris kreider and Arron Asham.  That meant guys like Ryan Callahan (22:22) and Derek Stepan (23:27) were out past their usual bedtime in terms of ice time.

So, another Game 7.  It is not what we prognosticated, but this will be the seventh time in the last nine playoff series for the Caps that they will face a Game 7.  It is not exactly a surprise.  If there is a ray of sunshine to take out of this game it is that the Caps did not play especially well, got no benefit of the doubt in the way the game was called, gave up a bit of a fluky goal, and still lost by only the thinnest of margins.  But thin margins are a staple of playoff hockey, and the Caps find themselves too often on the wrong side of them.  They have one more chance to make things right, or spend another off-season wondering, “what if?”

NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals -- Game 5: Capitals 2 - Rangers 1 (OT)

There will be another game at Verizon Center this season.

Oh, it might not be in this series, but there will be another home game.  The Washington Capitals saw to that last night with a 2-1 overtime win over the New York Rangers in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

Mike Ribeiro sent Caps fans out into the night in a delirious state of mind when he swatted home a rebound of a Karl Alzner shot 9:24 into the extra session on a play that had the eerie look to it of another overtime playoff winner many years ago. 

The play started with Karl Alzner and Mike Green exchanging passes at the top of the Rangers’ zone.  Alzner fed the puck to Green at the right point, and Green fired a shot that took a bite out of Ranger defenseman Ryan McDonagh.  The puck ricocheted to the stick of Ranger Derick Brassard, but his weak clearing attempt was gloved down by Green, who slid the puck over to Alzner.  Brassard tried to jump out to block the shot Alzner was winding up for, but Alzner’s shot sailed past Brassard’s right leg.  The puck hit Troy Brouwer’s skate and deflected to the doorstep to the left of goalie Henrik Lundqvist.  With Lundqvist down from trying to defend the Alzner shot, Ribeiro had an open left side of the net to shoot at, and he swiped it in from the same spot of the ice as the finish of another playoff ending from the Caps’ past…

Other stuff…

-- The game-winning goal was due, in no small part, to the reach of Eric Fehr.  When the puck caromed off the left wing boards in the Ranger end, Fehr beat Anton Stralman to the puck with his long reach and one handed the biscuit out of Stralman’s grasp.  That small play was the start of the unfolding of the last sequence.

-- Score power play goal, win game.  That, as much as the home-cooking advantage, has been the trend in this series.  In the three games in which the Caps outscored the Rangers, 1-0, on the power play, they won.  In the two in which the Rangers held that 1-0 advantage in power play goals, they won.

-- Speaking of which, the small things matter, Part I.  The Rangers won the faceoff following a penalty to Brian Boyle for slashing Ribeiro.  But Dan Girardi whiffed on his clearing attempt, and that allowed Marcus Johansson to slip past Girardi to control the puck and set up behind the Ranger net.

-- The small things matter, Part II.  The Caps power play goal will be remembered for the slick passing from Johansson from behind the Ranger net to Nicklas Backstrom at the right wing wall, back to Johansson, who sent a touch pass to Joel Ward in the high slot for the shot and the goal.  But the small thing that opened up Ward was perhaps this…

…Ryan Callahan guarding against the pass across the slot for the one-timer from Alex Ovechkin.  The captain did not register a point in this game, but he provided an effective decoy on this play.

-- Give Braden Holtby credit.  When the Rangers scored on their first shot of the game 53 seconds in, this could have gotten ugly quickly, especially given the circumstances of the goal.  The Caps got caught running around and chasing the Rangers in their own end and were in no position to do anything about Brian Boyle knifing to the slot to convert a feed from Brassard.  But Holtby was solid thereafter, stopping the last 24 shots off Ranger sticks.

-- And give the defense credit, too.  The Caps had those early jitters, but they clamped down hard on the Blueshirts, finishing the game with having allowed only 25 shots through in more than 69 minutes. 

-- Part of that was having to block 30 shots.  Matt Hendricks, who does not yet have a point in this series, was a shot-blocking machine last night, turning away seven Ranger shots in just 9:12 of ice time. 

-- Tom Wilson got his first taste of NHL action, getting 6:24 of ice time in eight shifts.  A shot on goal, a takeaway, and four hits.  Not a bad baptism.

-- We noted that the Caps were getting creamed in offensive zone draws in this series.  They were a little better last night (12-for-27, 44.4 percent), but it still needs work.

-- It might not be the best time to note this but… the second line of Ribeiro, Fehr, and Troy Brouwer had only five shots on goal in 69 minutes, Brouwer getting three of them.  Ribeiro had only one…the game-winning one.

-- Goal scorers are a streaky lot.  Last night Ovechkin had nine shots on goal without finding the back of the net with one.  It was the most shots on goal he recorded this season without getting a goal.  It was the most shots he recorded without a goal since going 0-for-10 in a 3-2 win over Carolina on November 24, 2010.  But he had three assists in that game.  It was the most shots on goal he had without a point since he went 0-for-10 and pointless in a 7-2 win over the New York Islanders on January 26, 2010.

In the end, the Caps ground one out.  It was not dominating from an offensive standpoint, but the defense seemed to get stronger as the game went on.  It is something to build on going into Game 6, at Madison Square Garden, where the Caps have not won a non-Gimmick game since Game 2 of last spring’s playoff series between these two teams.  Caps fans might remember that the game-winning goal in that game was scored by Alex Ovechkin.  It would be nice to repeat that history, just as last night’s game winner repeated some happy history for the Caps.

NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals -- Game 4: Rangers 4 - Capitals 3

“Just when you think you got momentum, you lose it.”

Pierre McGuire uttered those words when Mathieu Perreault scored the Washington Capitals’ first goal last night, but it might have described the series, and not in a good way for the Caps.  The momentum the Capitals might have had in winning Games 1 and 2 was lost last night as the New York Rangers tied their series at two games apiece with a 4-3 win at Madison Square Garden. 

The Caps were chasing the Rangers all night, it seemed, allowing the game’s first two goals.  The first one was the result of a ghastly miscue by Braden Holtby, who drifted out to the faceoff circle to his left to play a loose puck late in the first period.  He tried to wire a pass through the middle to Eric Fehr at the red line along the wall on the right side.  Taylor Pyatt got in the way to knock the puck down, then all hell broke loose. Holtby tried to scramble back to his crease as Carl Hagelin scooped up the puck and fired at the Caps’ net.  John Carlson blocked the shot with a skate, but it caromed out to Brad Richards as Holtby was sliding across his crease.  By the time Richards fired, Holtby slid all the way through, and Richards had nothing be empty net to shoot at.  He did not miss, and the Rangers had the lead.

New York would double their lead mid-way through the second period when Carl Hagelin got a goal of his own, firing a shot from the left wing faceoff circle high over Holtby’s glove on the far side.   The Rangers would lose that two-goal lead before the second period was through.  Mathieu Perreault got the Caps on the board when he finished some of Joel Ward’s hard work.  Ward took a feed from Jason Chimera in the neutral zone and skated down the left wing.  He skated defenseman Michael De Zotto to his knees, then circled around him to the Ranger net.  His shot was paddled aside by goalie henrik Lundqvist, but the puck ended up on the stick of Perreault at the left post.  Perreault knocked it in, and the Caps were within a goal.

Troy Brouwer tied the game with 17.1 seconds left in the second period.  It started with some good forechecking pressure from Mike Ribeiro denying the Rangers the chance to clear the puck from their zone.  Mike Green kept the puck in at the right point and fed it to Brouwer at the top of the right wing circle.  Brouwer cut to the middle, split Anton Stralman and Derek Stepan, and backhanded the puck past Lundqvist’s blocker to knot the score at two apiece going into the second intermission.

The Rangers restored their two goal lead early in the third period.  The first came on a power play, Dan Girardi taking a nice backhand feed from Derick Brassard and firing a slap shot past Holtby’s blocker when it appeared Brouwer backed into Holtby’s line of sight to screen his own goaltender.

Stepan made it 4-2 six minutes into the period, finishing some nifty passing in deep.  Ryan Callahan picked up a loose puck at the top of the right wing circle and took advantage of numbers to feed Stepan to Holty’s right.  Stepan fed Hagelin at the other side ot the low slot, then Hagelin fed it back.  Holtby had no chance to prevent Stepan from burying the puck in the back of the net for a new two-goal lead.

Less than 90 seconds later, Perreault got the Caps back within one when he proved that getting in the way can have its charms.  Karl Alzner kept the puck in the Ranger zone at the left point, then let loose a wrist shot toward the Ranger net.  As the puck was making its way toward the net, Perreault was cutting across the middle.  The puck struck him, hit a post, and settled behind Lundqvist to make it 4-3 at 7:31 of the period.

That would be as close as the Caps would get, though.  The Caps would get nine more shots on goal in the last 12:29, but Lundqvist stopped them all, and the series was tied, the momentum the Caps had coming to New York now in the Rangers’ hands as the Caps were leaving town.

Other stuff…

-- How does John Moore not get a penalty for cross-checking Jason Chimera to the ice after Perreault’s goal?

-- The Caps are showing Henrik Lundqvist to be mortal, but they are not taking advantage of that good fortune because their own defense is getting broken down by the Rangers in deep.  New York is getting too many chances – such as that which led to the game-winning goal – in close.

-- The Caps have lost two straight third periods by a 2-1 score and lost the games as a result.  This has been one of those under-the-radar issues for the Caps this season.  They are now 4-6-1 (regular season plus playoffs) when tied after 40 minutes of play (1-2 in this series).

-- Wouldn’t you know it.  The Caps get secondary scoring, and the top line can’t get a point… ok, one in the last two games.  Joel Ward has three assists over the last two games. Mathieu Perreault is 2-1-3 (the two goals being scored last night).  Jason Chimera has a pair of assists.  Jay Beagle has as many goals (one) as the top line has scored in the last two games (one – Nicklas Backstrom  in Game 3).  John Erskine has more assists (one) than does the top line over the last two games. 

-- The top line of Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin, and Marcus Johansson was held to four shots on goal and no points last night.  Alex Ovechkin did not have an even-strength shot on goal, only one on a power play.

-- The second line was almost as unproductive.  Troy Brouwer did have a goal, but it was the only point on the Brouwer-Mike Ribeiro-Martin Erat line, and they had only two shots on goal (four, if you include the two that Eric Fehr had when he moved to this line).  Six (even eight) shots on goal from the scoring lines is not especially conducive to scoring.  By way of comparison, the defense recorded 11 shots on goal.

-- The second line problems were in part a product of an injury sustained by Martin Erat late in the first period, who looked as if he injured his left arm when he got tangled up with Derek Stepan and fell to the ice.

-- The Rangers were up to old tricks last night.  They blocked more shots (33) than the Caps recorded on goal (30).  The defense had almost as many blocked shots (19) as did the entire Caps team (20).

-- It was an ugly night in the faceoff circle for the Capitals.  They were 19-for-53 overall (35.8 percent) and just 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) in the offensive zone.

-- The Perreault-Ward-Chimera line (assembled when Erat went out, Eric Fehr moved to the second line, and Ward took Fehr’s place) was the most active one last night – 11 shots on goal, 2-3-5 overall with each player finishing plus-1.

In the end, this has become a frustrating series.  The Caps are doing a lot of little things wrong (faceoffs, for example) and some big things wrong (a wandering goalie, the power play going dark, defensive breakdowns), and still lost these last two games by a single goal when they lost the third periods of both games.  You get the feeling that if the Caps can stop beating themselves, this Rangers team cannot compete with them.  But the Caps have been beating themselves, and the Rangers have been able to compete. 

Now, it becomes a three-game series, and the Caps are really, really bad at three game series.  In 2009 they had a three-game series when Pittsburgh tied their playoff series at two games apiece. The Caps lost, 2-1.  The Caps beat the Boston Bruins in a three-game series in the first round of the playoffs last season, 2-1, but then lost to these same Rangers in the second round, 2-1.  Going back in time… 2003, the Caps lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-0, after being tied 2-2 after four games.  2001, a 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  1996, a 2-0 loss to the Penguins. 

There is a long, sad history here.  What it means is that the Caps need to start playing like they have a chip on their shoulder, and not the weight of that history on their backs.

NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals -- Game 2: Capitals 1 - Rangers 0 (OT)

Page V of the “National Hockey League Official Rules, 2012-2013” describes the dimensions of the “approved goal frame.”  There you will find that the inner distance between posts is 72 inches and that the inner height dimension is 48 inches.

This six-foot by four-foot area is all that a goaltender is obliged to defend.  Braden Holtby defended those 24 square feet perfectly, shutting out the New York Rangers in the Washington Capitals’ 1-0 overtime win over the Rangers in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series at Verizon Center on Saturday afternoon.

Caps fans might want to keep those dimensions and the goaltender’s obligation to defend only that space if they are inclined to think Holtby and the Caps a bit lucky after the Rangers’ Rick Nash bulled through the Caps’ defense, and with less than four minutes left in regulation chipped a shot off the post to Holtby’s right that might have won the game for the Rangers in regulation time.

As it was, Holtby kept his net clear, despite the Caps having to kill off a penalty late in regulation – that one taken by Troy Brouwer on that bull rush by Nash -- then having to kill off a penalty in overtime when Steve Oleksy shot the puck off the rink from inside the defensive zone for a delay of game penalty.  It set up a thrilling finish when the Rangers took their own delay of game penalty, and Mike Green made good on his “Game Over Green” nickname, blasting a one-timer off a feed from Mike Ribeiro past goalie Henrik Lundqvist for the game-winner and a 2-0 lead in games in the series.

Other stuff…

-- Here is the “random” part of hockey that can be so confounding to numbers folks.  A shoelace.  When Mike Green fired his game-winning shot toward the Ranger net, it appeared that Henrik Lundqvist had a good view of the puck.  But as it was heading for the net it appeared to tick off the top of the skate of Ranger Derek Stepan ever so slightly – perhaps just hitting the laces of his boot – thus causing the path of the puck to tilt up ever so slightly and sail over the glove of Lundqvist, off the post, and into the back of the net.

-- Braden Holtby stopped all 24 shots he faced, making him perfect in the last 53 shots he has faced from the Rangers over 111:15 of ice time.  In nine career playoff games against the Rangers, Holtby is now 5-4, 1.60, .941, with one shutout.

-- His opposite number – Henrik Lundqvist – had, if anything, a better game.  He certainly faced more dangerous shots.  A redirect attempt by Mathieu Perreault that he stopped with his right pad.  A wrister from in close by Marcus Johansson.  A point-blank try by Jason Chimera.  Another point-blank attempt, this one by Alex Ovechkin when he split to Ranger defenders and worked his way in alone on Lundqvist.  Caps fans will hope this was his best game.

-- We like Ryan Callahan’s compete level.  He runs his motor at a high rate just about all the time.  But his aggression when it comes to defending on the power play has had a hand in two power play goals for the Caps in this series.  We covered one in the pre-game look at this contest.  In this one his sliding over to contest a shot from Mike Ribeiro – when John Moore was already in Ribeiro's shooting lane – opened up a shooting lane for Mike Green, who took advantage for the game-winner.

-- Rule 63.2 is on folks’ minds this morning.  The Rule states:

“When any player, with both of his skates inside his defending zone, shoots or bats (using his hand or his stick) the puck directly (non-deflected) out of the playing surface, except where there is no glass, a penalty shall be assessed for delaying the game…”

And the question is not whether Karl Alzner “shot” the puck off the rink with 45.3 seconds left in regulation time, but if he “batted” the puck over the glass with his stick when the puck was dumped over the Capitals’ blue line.  The ruling on the ice, as described by Caps head coach Adam Oates in his post-game press conference, was that the puck was “deflected” over the glass.

-- Is the Washington penalty killing that good or the Ranger power play that bad?  The Caps were three-for-three in this game, making them perfect in seven shorthanded situations for the series.  The Rangers were held to two shots on goal in six minutes of power play time, both off the stick of Brad Richards.  The Rangers did not have a shot on goal on either their power play late in regulation, nor on their power play in overtime.

-- Speaking of shots on goal… eight minutes of overtime, no shots on goal for the Rangers.  In fact, they managed only three shot attempts in those eight minutes – one missed shot and two shots blocked.

-- Rick Nash’s chip off the post late in regulation time notwithstanding, he had only three shots on goal in this game after recording eight shots on goal in Game 1. 

-- Ryan McDonagh’s last shift was memorable.  He took the ice with 4:05 gone in the overtime to match up against the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Johansson line.  The Caps dominated possession in the Ranger end and managed a shot on goal, then a missed shot before the Rangers iced the puck with 5:42 gone, McDonagh having been on the ice for 1:37 and having had to face the top line and the second line of Mike Ribeiro, Martin Erat, and Troy Brouwer in his shift.  But he could not get off the ice because of the icing call. 

This is where Adam Oates made one of those subtle game-within-a-game moves that does not get a lot of attention.  He swapped out the Ribeiro line for fresh legs, getting Mathieu Perreault, Eric Fehr, and Jason Chimera on the ice.  When Henrik Lundqvist stopped and froze a Perreault shot at 6:08 – McDonagh now having been on ice for 2:03 on this shift – the Rangers could have made a change.  But with Oates now sending out the top line, McDonagh stayed on the ice.  Washington won the ensuing faceoff and maintained possession and pressure in the Ranger end, getting six shot attempts at Lundqvist in the next 1:01.  McDonagh then found the puck on his stick, and in trying to relieve pressure, shot the puck off the rink instead, earning a delay-of-game penalty.  He finished with a shift of 3:04 and was in the box when Mike Green scored his game-winner on the ensuing power play.

-- Every Ranger skater was credited with at least one hit.  One wonders if, failing to do so, head coach John Tortorella threatens to make the offending player walk home.

-- Is Braden Holtby getting into the Rangers’ heads?  15 of 18 skaters recorded at least one missed shot. 

-- Every Capital, save Jay Beagle, had at least one shot on goal.  John Carlson and Ovechkin had seven apiece.

-- Eric Fehr was drafted by the Capitals back in 2003 off his considerable goal-scoring promise displayed with the Brandon Wheat Kings in Canadian juniors, but he is finding a place with this Caps team as a penalty killer.  His work in that regard in this game, including swallowing a shot in his midsection and smothering the puck under him, was superb.

In the end…

This is the fourth time in Caps history that the team won both Games 1 and 2 on home ice.  In two series they were taken to seven games, both against Pittsburgh (1992, 2009), and on both occasions the Caps lost.  In the other two series – against Ottawa in 1998 and against the Rangers in 2009 – the Caps closed out the series in five games.  The key is not Game 3 (lost by the Caps in all four series), but Game 4 (won by the Caps in both five-game series wins, lost in both seven-game series losses).

What this means is that the Caps have merely held serve, and now the Rangers get the chance to return the favor of disappointing their guests on Monday and Wednesday.  This series is a long way from over, but it is the Rangers who have the much more difficult path to win, thanks to a superb effort by the Caps and some sly moves by the coaching staff.

NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals -- Game 1: Capitals 3 - Rangers 1

The Washington Capitals spotted the New York Rangers a first period goal, but then they stormed back with three of their own to defeat the Rangers, 3-1, at Verizon Center on Thursday night. 

The game started as if it would be a low-scoring grind, but the Rangers finally broke through late in the first period.  Carl Hagelin got the Rangers on the board first with equal parts hard work and luck, first digging the puck free from John Carlson.  Then, Hagelin darted out from behind the Capitals’ net to goalie Braden Hotlby’s left and tried to wrap the puck around the post.  The puck spun off Hagelin’s stick through the blue paint and would have done no harm, but it hit John Erskine’s skate and deflected into the back of the net to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 16:44 of the period.

That was how it remained until the Rangers until the Rangers took a penalty early in the second period.  Taylor Pyatt took an elbowing penalty at 3:14, giving the Caps a power play.  It stunk.  The Caps recorded only one ineffectual shot on goal on that power play, but they saw something, and when the Rangers obliged the Caps by taking another penalty barely a minute after the Pyatt penalty expired, the Caps pounced. 

It was about getting pucks to the net.  It started with Alex Ovechkin dumping the puck into the far corner to goalie Henrik Lundqvist’s left.  Nicklas Backstrom was first to it along the wall, and he worked the puck out to Mike Green.  The puck took its turn on the sticks of Backstrom, Green, and Mike Ribeiro, eventually making its way back to Green at the top of the offensive zone.  Green loaded up for a slap shot, but directed the shot to Lundqvist’s right and off the end wall.  The puck caromed back to the edge of the faceoff circle where Alex Ovechkin was waiting to bat it under the right arm of Lundqvist and in to tie the game at 6:59 of the second period.

Late in the period the Caps put the game away with a pair of goals in short order.  The first goal in the sequence came on a simple play, well executed.  Steve Oleksy backed his way into the Caps’ zone with the puck, allowing the Caps to regroup in the neutral zone.  One Cap, though, got behind the Ranger defense, and Oleksy spied him, firing a long lead pass that Marcus Johansson took at the Ranger blue line.  Johansson took the puck in behind Ranger defensemen Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh.  Johansson pirouetted into the Ranger zone on his own and snapped a shot under Lundqvist’s left arm to give the Caps their first lead of the series, 2-1.

Just 46 seconds later the Caps were on the board again thanks to the gritty work of Mathieu Perreault.  First, Perreault outdueled Anton Stralman for a loose puck in the faceoff circle to Lundqvist’s right.  Then, having shed Stralman once, Perreault fended off Mats Zuccarello and Stralman to move the puck to Jason Chimera along the left wing wall.  Chimera was patient enough to let Brad Richards back off to defend against a pass to the point.  When Richards backed off, Chimera turned and sent an off pace shot to the Ranger net that had the look of seeking a rebound or a deflection.  There was neither.  The puck snuck through Lundqvist’s pads, and the Caps had a 3-1 lead heading to the second intermission. 

For the Caps, the third period was a matter of playing smart and minimizing Ranger opportunities.  The Caps managed both, leaving the rest in the hands of Braden Holtby, who stopped all 12 shots he faced in the period to seal the win, 3-1, and give the Caps a 1-0 lead in the series.

Other stuff…

-- Only three times in their last 13 games of the regular season did the Rangers face more than two shorthanded situations.  The five they faced in Game 1 was the first time they allowed that many to the Caps in a playoff game since giving the Caps seven power play chances in a 4-0 loss to the Caps in Game 5 of the 2009 Eastern quarters.

-- Alex Ovechkin’s goal gave him sole possession of the franchise record for career power play goals in the playoffs.  He had been tied at 30 goals with Peter Bondra.

-- The Rangers tilted the ice severely in the Caps’ direction, once they got their skates working.  They were outshot by the Caps, 9-0, over the first eight minutes, but they finished the game out-attempting the Caps, 79-53, and outshot the Caps by a 36-22 margin after their slow start.

-- In the game within a game, score it “Braden Holtby: 1, Rick Nash: 0.”  Nash recorded eight shots on goal (16 attempts), but failed to record a point.

-- Anybody have Steve Eminger leading the Rangers (and tied with Troy Brouwer for the Caps) in hits with seven?  He had those seven hits in less than ten minutes of ice time.

-- It’s hard to know if the first line was efficient, opportunistic, or plain lucky.  The Ovechkin-Backstrom-Johansson trio managed only four even strength shots on goal for the game, Johansson getting the only even strength goal.

-- Mike Green gets the all-you-can-eat buffet coupon… an assist, plus-1, three shots on goal, nine shot attempts (team high), two hits, three takeaways, three blocked shots.  The only thing he did not do was take a faceoff.

-- Braden Holtby gets marks for using the whole net – and just as important, the pipes – in tending goal.  He had a Carl Hagelin shot beat him in the third period, only to find the crossbar, and he pinned another shot against the right post with his blocker shortly thereafter (a shot that was reviewed) to prevent another goal.

-- Speaking of Holtby, his blocker stop of a Hagelin breakaway early in the second period was probably the pivotal point of the game.  It was an indication that Holtby was sharp, probably sharper than Lundqvist at the other end.

-- It should escape no one’s notice that Alex Ovechkin was out on the ice in the game’s last minute.  True, if it was a one-goal lead he very well might not have been out there, but it was a little thing that showed trust in him to play responsibly in his own end.

-- Speaking of which, a nice block of a Rick Nash shot by Ovechkin with less than four minutes left and the game still in doubt. 

-- Joel Ward had a quiet – very quiet – 8:06 of ice time, only a lone takeaway marking his line on the score sheet.  But quiet is good as Ward gets his skating legs under him for what could be a long series.

In the end… It could be a long series.  That is the recent history of these teams.  But the Caps now have the shorter path to the second round, having won Game 1.  On the other hand, it is first to “four,” not first to “one,” and the Caps have merely held serve.  Both teams can take something from this game.  The Rangers dominated possession for long stretches after a slow start.  The Caps were opportunistic and made the most of those opportunities.  Rick Nash was beastly, if not well rewarded, while Alex Ovechkin had a more well-rounded game than the usual suspects in the media give him credit for. 

If there was a difference in this one it was that Henrik Lundqvist did not have an especially good game.  Given who he is, one could have expected him to stop each of the three Caps shots that resulted in goals. The Chimera goal was uncharacteristically soft on his part.  At the other end, Braden Holtby was sharp, technically not beaten cleanly on a shot from a Ranger stick (the only goal scored as a deflection off a skate).  The Caps and their fans would just as soon this continue, but a seven-game series is not seven chapters that repeat one another.  It is a story of twists and turns.  And this was just the first chapter.  Still, it’s a nice story so far.

A TWO-point night -- Game 48: Capitals 3 - Bruins 2 (OT)

It seemed rather fitting that the Washington Capitals should struggle early, find their footing, then come roaring back late and grab an overtime victory over the Boston Bruins, 3-2, this evening at Verizon Center.  It was their season in a nutshell.

When Boston scored a goal in the first – a Milan Lucic shot that ticked off the toe of Karl Alzner’s skate and past goalie Braden Holtby – and then again in the second when Andrew Ference ripped a wrist shot to the back of the net, it looked as if the Caps might go quick and quiet into the night to close the regular season.

But they came back in the third period, thanks to the parade of the circus bears to the penalty box.  First it was Adam McQuaid taking a tripping penalty at 5:11 of the period.  The Caps won the ensuing faceoff and kept the puck in the Bruin zone with some hard work in front of goalie Tuukka Rask.  The puck eventually found its way onto the stick of Mike Green at the right point.  Green wristed a harmless enough looking shot at the Boston net, but Zdeno Chara took that moment to play “air goalie” and think he had a blocker on his right hand.  Chara flicked his arm up as if he was blocking the shot away, and the only purpose that served was to send Rask into a fit when the puck sailed over Rask’s blocker into the far top corner of the net.

Green figured in the beginning, middle, and end of the next power play.  He started it by drawing a tripping call on Rich Peverley barely a minute after his goal.  Then, he started a rush from the Caps’ end of the ice, sending a long lead pass to Mike Ribeiro at the Boston Blue line.  Ribeiro skate through the right wing faceoff circle, then fed the puck back to Green entering the zone.  Green one-timed the puck over Rask’s right pad, and the Caps were even with the Bruins 7:21 into the third period.

That would be it for the scoring in regulation time, but the Caps would go into the extra frame having to kill a penalty to – who else – Mike Green.  The Caps killed that off without a shot on goal for Boston, then grabbed the momentum.  The Caps pressured the Bruins net, eventually leading to Zdeno Chara taking a hooking penalty on Mike Ribeiro to give the Caps their fifth power play of the game and fourth since the 5:11 mark of the third period.  At that point, it was a matter of time.

The last sequence started with – you guessed it – Green slowly skating over the Bruins’ blue line and backhanding the puck over to Mike Ribeiro on the right wing.  Ribeiro skated the puck down into the right wing faceoff circle, then lined up Green for a one-timer from the opposite circle.  Green fired, handcuffing Rask, who had to make an awkward save with his right shoulder.  Rask was not in position to defend the rebound, and it was Eric Fehr swooping in before Wade Redden could tie up his stick to lift the puck past the fallen Rask and into the back of the net for the game-winner.

Other stuff…

-- Mike Green finished with a rush.  His three-point night (2-1-3) was his first such night since he had a four-point night (2-2-4) against Detroit in a 7-1 win on October 22, 2011.  He finished 4-7-11 in his last eight games.

-- Green finished the season leading all NHL defensemen in goals (12) in just 35 games.  That is a 28-goal pace over 82 games.

-- Alex Ovechkin had two assists to finish in a tie for third place in overall scoring with Sidney Crosby (united once again) at 56 points.  Ovechkin won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal scorer (32).  He also finished the season first in power play goals (16) and tied with teammate Mike Ribeiro in power play points (27).

-- It might have been Ovechkin’s backchecking on a Rich Peverley break that was a difference-maker, though.  Ovechkin was deft enough to get a body on Peverley without incurring an infraction, interrupting Peverley as he was about to try to give Boston what might have been an insurmountable 3-0 lead on a shorthanded goal.

-- Ribeiro’s two assists lifted him into a top-ten finish in points (49), tied with Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk and a top-five finish in assists (36).

-- The three power play goals by the Caps tied a season high for the club, set when the Caps went 3-for-5 against Florida in a 4-3 win on April 6^th.  The Caps finished the regular season with 44 power play goals.  In all of last season, the Caps had 41 power play goals over 82 games.

-- Braden Holtby’s 32 save effort closed a fast finish of the season.  After going 3-4-0, 4.04, .874 in his first seven appearances, he went 20-8-1, 2.26, .930 in his last 29 appearances.  He allowed two or fewer goals in 15 of those 29 games.

-- John Erskine was laying the lumber in this one – seven of the Caps’ 34 recorded hits. 

-- Eric Fehr had two game-winning goals this season, both against Boston, both in overtime, both against Tuukka Rask, both while getting knocked down in front of the Bruins’ net.

-- Milan Lucic scored only his third goal in his last 30 games, but the Caps managed to hold the trio of Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin, and Patrice Bergeron without a point.

-- Troy Brouwer recorded an assist to finish the season with 33 points, his total for all 82 games of last season.

In the end, it was a satisfying win against a stout opponent.  Just the sort of game the Caps needed to head into the post-season to face – again – the New York Rangers.  With a record of 25-10-2 to close the season, Caps fans could not ask for a better way to move forward, especially with their best players playing well and the team getting contributions from all over the lineup.  But as Caps fans are also too aware, their record as of now is 0-0.  Time to go to work.

A ONE-point night -- Game 47: Senators 2 - Capitals 1 (OT)

It was a night to settle things, just not for the Washington Capitals.

The Capitals settled their business on Tuesday, making last night’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators less meaningful for them than for their opponent.  The win clinched a playoff spot for Ottawa, which became the seventh team in the Eastern Conference to claim a playoff spot (the New York Rangers would claim the last spot with a 4-3 win over Carolina).

Wins are always better than losses at this time of year, but the important point for the Caps was to maintain focus and play their game.  At this they succeeded, to a point.  Holding an NHL team – any NHL team, even one as offensively challenged as the Senators – to two goals in more than 60 minutes of play is evidence of good defense, or at least good goaltending.  Michal Neuvirth, relieving Braden Holtby on this evening, held the Senators to a tip in and a 4-on-3 power play goal.  It was a fine effort given that he had not seen action in more than two weeks.

For the Capitals, Alex Ovechkin recorded his 32^nd goal of the season, settling a bouncing puck off a pass from Marcus Johansson, turning defenseman Chris Phillips inside out, curing through the right wing circle and backhanding the puck past goalie Craig Anderson’s right pad.

That was it for the scoring in a game played at a pace much more to Ottawa’s style than Washington's, much like the game in Ottawa a week earlier.  That it wasn’t worse for the Caps in a game with little meaning (other than as a potential playoff preview, since the Senators reside in sixth place at the moment) might be taken as a positive.

Other stuff…

-- If Alex Ovechkin, who scored last night, can manage two goals in the finale on Saturday he will tie former Capital Peter Bondra for the NHL record in goals recorded in a lockout-shortened 48-game season (34).

-- It was hard to tell if as the game went on, was it the Caps’ attention wandering or the Senators clamping down?  Ten shots… six…four…none.  Craig Anderson has had his issues with low shot-volume games, but he was not severely tested.

-- Part of the problem for the Caps was their inability to achieve any rhythm, especially in that third period when they had only four shots on goal.  They spent 4:58 of the third period killing penalties (they had no power plays of their own). 

-- It might be worth noting that the Caps shot themselves in the foot by taking four offensive zone penalties (one of them part of a coincidental set of minor penalties) for the night.  Another way to upset one’s rhythm.

-- A 4-on-3 situation creates a lot of space for teams, but it was the lack of it – that small space between Mika Zibanejad’s backside and Michal Neuvirth – that was the difference.  Neuvirth was peeking at Sergei Gonchar past Zibandejad’s left hip on the game’s final play, and just as Gonchar wound up to take his slap shot, Zibanejad slid ever so slightly into Neuvirth’s field of view.  Neuvirth could not see the shot coming, reacting just that split second too late to the puck sailing by past Zibanejad’s right hip for the game-winner.

-- Erik Karlsson would appear healthy. Eight shots on goal, 12 attempts, two assists.  Does this mean he’s going to get Norris Trophy votes, now?

-- Ten of the Caps’ 18 skaters had more hits than shots on goal.  Not sure that’s a trend worth sustaining.

-- The top line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Marcus Johansson had only four shots on goal for the game (Ovechkin had three of them).  Might not have been an “always intense” effort.

-- The second line of Mike Ribeiro, Martin Erat, and Troy Brouwer had four shots on goal, too (Brouwer had three of them). 

-- The defense had nine shots on goal.  By itself, that is probably a good thing, but if they constitute 45 percent of the total for the team, the goalie is not going to have a particularly hard night.

-- The less said about Mike Ribeiro taking two penalties in the last 4:52 of the game, the better.

-- How good was Michal Neuvirth in this game?  Ottawa shelled him with 23 shots in the third period, part of a 37-attempt effort in those last 20 minutes.  Washington had only 43 shot attempts for the entire contest. 

In the end, there will be a fair amount of navel-gazing about this game.  Third time in three games the Caps lost to the Senators, only four goals scored in the season series, Ottawa has their number, yadda-yadda-yadda.  We are not buying it.  It would be only human to have a letdown of some sort after clinching an unexpected division title two nights earlier, and the Caps looked as if they, well, let down.  The last time the Caps lost to the Senators they went right back to work, beating Montreal and Winnipeg to wrap things up in the Southeast Division.  The next time the Caps meet the Senators, we think the Senators will have the Caps’ full and undivided attention.  Don’t read too much into this result.