Rangers vs. Capitals Final Score: Washington Takes 2-0 Series Lead with Overtime Win
By Josh Hill
The New York Rangers are being picked by some to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup, but they’ve run into a buzz saw in the Washington Capitals, a team trying to prove they’re actually an elite team and not just posing as one.
Alex Ovechkin a player the Caps will live and die by and so far this series he’s been able to hold his own despite having a rough few years and even a rough start to this shortened season. But all he needed to do was get his footing and now that it appears he’s done that, the Caps look like a team that may end up making a run in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
We needed extra hockey to determine a winner but for Rangers fans, the game might have ended in regulation had it not been for a questionable call by officials on the ice. With under two minutes left to go, Washington defenseman John Carlson batted a puck that ended up going out of play, which has usually been called a delay of game penalty this season.
Despite there being an official directly in front of the action, there was no penalty called and thus no power play for the Rangers to try and score a last minute short-handed goal to win things.
So we were on to overtime where the brilliant goaltending of netminder Henrik Lundqvist continued to stifle the Capitals attack. But that delay of game penalty that didn’t go the Rangers way at the end of third ended up going the way of the Caps in overtime as a delay penalty put Washington on the power play and allowed Mike Green to pick up the game winner.
The Capitals have a lot to prove, as despite being a seemingly solid team led by superstar Alex Ovechkin, they’ve yet to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals and have yet to hoist a trophy in Washington. There is always high expectations for the Caps but they fail to deliver time and time again. Things looked promising after a 3-1 win in the opening game of the series but there is still work to be done.
Being up 2-0 heading back to New York should help give the Caps some serious confidence in closing out the series. But remember that last year the Caps lost in seven games to the Rangers, and they have a real opportunity to avoid that if they can take a 3-0 lead Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
New York still has a great chance to take this series though, as brilliant goaltending by Henrik Lundqvist has carried them thus far. All you need in the Stanley Cup playoffs is solid netminding and there probably isn’t a guy more up to the task at the moment than Lundqvist.