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Derek Stepan wins Game 7 and series for New York Rangers (Video)

By Will Osgood

May 8, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) celebrates his goal against the Washington Capitals with New York Rangers center Derek Stepan (21) New York Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi (5) New York Rangers right wing Martin St. Louis (26) and New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) during the third period of game five of the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
May 8, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) celebrates his goal against the Washington Capitals with New York Rangers center Derek Stepan (21) New York Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi (5) New York Rangers right wing Martin St. Louis (26) and New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) during the third period of game five of the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Derek Stepan won the game and the series for the New York Rangers with his overtime goal Wednesday night.

The Washington D.C. sports scene took a bit of a hit Wednesday night, as the Wizards had their hearts virtually torn out by the Atlanta Hawks when Al Horford hit a buzzer-beating game-winner after Paul Pierce hit another clutch 3-pointer just before it.

Even more dramatically and frustratingly for D.C. sports fans, the Washington Capitals again allowed a team to come back on them to steal a series. And Alex Ovechkin is still a Conference Finals virgin. If not an Ovechkin/Caps fan, thank New York Rangers forward Derek Stepan for sending the Capitals back home miserable.

The goal came as a bit of a surprise as the face-off followed an icing call, which was immediately preceded by a mandatory ice-scraping at the middle mark of the first overtime session.

The Caps were thus fresh. So, though, were the Rangers. They used their relative freshness to move the puck quickly in the zone after winning the face-off, getting a hard slap shot through to Capitals goalie Braden Holtby–who was outstanding all night.

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Holtby could only brush the shot away, and unfortunately for the Capitals, it went straight to Stepan, who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Stepan caught the rebound and in one motion snapped his shot past Holtby into the net for the game- and series-winning goal.

As a result the Rangers advance to their second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals–they defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 a year ago. This year they’ll face the team who defeated the Canadiens, the Tampa Bay Lightning beginning early Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

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