Will be plenty more news and analysis of the Caps-New York Rangers Stanley Cup playoff series in the next few days. But while we wait for the NHL to put out its full playoff schedule – the haggling between television executives, the league office and NHL teams can take a while – let’s get a thumbnail sketch of the Rangers and Caps and how they stack up statistically.
Season series: New York, 3-1.
Some of the Caps worst beatings came at the hands of the Rangers, a big physical team that blocks shots (4th in NHL) and led the league in hits. Washington endured a defining moment – inb a bad way – at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 12. That 7-0 beating directly led Bruce Boudreau to tweaking his system. It wasn’t an overhaul, exactly. But it was an admission that his team needed to change. HBO memorably captured that contest for its 24-7 program, including Boudreau’s profanity-laced tirade on the bench. That was the sixth loss of an eight-game losing streak – but likely the low point of the entire season.
The Caps played much better in an overtime loss to Anaheim three days later and had one of their best periods of the season at Boston the following Saturday before a furious third-period rally fell short. A full week after that drubbing at the Garden Washington finally ended its streak with a win at Ottawa.
The Caps finished the regular season as one of the NHL’s hottest teams – 19-5-1 from Feb. 16 until the end. But let’s not forget one of those losses was a 6-0 defeat at Verizon Center to the Rangers. That’s also the last time anyone beat them by more than one goal. In the end, Washington was 1-2-1 (three points) against New York with a 5-3 victory at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 9 and the 2-1 shootout loss at Verizon Center on Jan. 24. Here are a dozen basic stats from the two teams along with their league ranking.
Goals For
NYR: 2.73 (16)
WAS: 2.67 (19)
Goals Against
NYR: 2.38 (5)
WAS: 2.33 (4)
Power Play
NYR: 16.9% (18)
WAS: 17.5% (16)
Penalty Kill
NYR: 83.7% (10)
WAS: 85.6% (2)
Shots per game
NYR: 29.9 (19)
WAS: 31.3 (12)
Shots allowed per game
NYR: 29.4 (10)
WAS: 29.0 (9)
Hits
NYR: 2,333 (1)
WAS: 1,885 (12)
Blocks
NYR: 1,301 (4)
WAS: 1,257 (7)
Faceoff percentage
NYR: 47.7% (25)
WAS: 51.6% (6)
1st goal winning %
NYR: .683 (19)
WAS: .714 (13)
1st goal allowed winning %
NYR: .390 (10)
WAS: .489 (1)
Leading after 2 periods
NYR: 29-0-0 (1)
WAS: 29-0-3 (9)
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