Washington leads series 2-1
NEW YORK – The Capitals had a chance to push the New York Rangers to the brink of elimination in their Stanley Cup playoff series on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
Instead, eight penalties that led to seven New York power plays undermined those hopes. And in the end, Washington’s own star winger, Alex Ovechkin, knocked the puck into his own goal with just 1:39 remaining in Game 3 as the Rangers earned a 3-2 victory.
The win closed the Caps’ Eastern Conference quarterfinals lead to 2-1 with Game 4 scheduled for Wednesday night in New York. Brandon Dubinsky escaped from the corner boards with the puck, drove towards the net and banked a shot off Washington defenseman Karl Alzner. The puck floated over the shoulder of goalie Michal Neuvirth and Ovechkin knocked it in as he tried a desperate clearing attempt.
“I think it was my mistake. When we hold puck in the corner I just turn it over and then try to make a play” Ovechkin said. “But again it hit my stick and goes in.”
It was harsh end to a game the Caps were chasing from the start. The Rangers came out as physically as they have in the first three games, targeting Washington’s defensemen and feeding off the energy of the home crowd.
Neither team scored in the first period, but a power-play goal by Erik Christensen gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 5:30 of the second period. The Caps tied it on an Ovechkin goal – his second of the series – with one minute left in the period and Washington got a lucky break when an apparent New York tally was ruled to have slipped in just after the green goal light turned on signaling the end of the period. The Caps had already escaped with just one goal allowed on four power-play chances in the second period alone, including a short five-on-three.
| Caps notes |
| » Caps defenseman Mike Green had his third assist of the series when he dropped pass for Jason Arnott just before getting knocked to the ice. The ensuing pass led to an Alex Ovechkin deflected goal. |
| » Washington managed just 25 shots on goal. It has six goals in the series and just 43 shots on goal the last two games combined. |
| » Caps goalie Michal Neuvirth finished with 32 saves on 35 Rangers shots. New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23 saves. |
“Well you’re 14 minutes shorthanded, and we have guys who kill penalties who we count on to be offensively, too, in Mike [Green] and Brooks [Laich] especially and Mike Knuble,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said. “So it certainly takes a little part of their offensive game away.”
Vinny Prospal put the Rangers up again at 8:01 of the third with a goal. Knuble answered at 14:48 with a power-play tally, knocking home a Nicklas Backstrom pass. The game appeared headed to overtime, but Washington defenseman John Carlson and Rangers forward Brian Boyle got in a scuffle. Both were sent off for roughing penalties and New York scored on the ensuing four-on-four.
“We really wanted to win that one,” Caps forward Matt Bradley said. “It obviously would have put us in a really good advantage. But we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy series. Now we have to get ready for Game 4 and forget about what’s happened the last three games.”
