Remember “24″ on Fox? Jack Bauer frantically trying to save the world as the clock ticks down to the bottom of the hour. Last night at Madison Square Garden delivered the most frantic final push of the post-season and it was all capped by Marc Staal’s Power Play goal less than two minutes into overtime. In a pivotal Game 5, the New York Rangers pulled a 180 on the Washington Capitals giving them a 3-2 lead in the best of Seven.
NY Rangers
After the marathon of Game 3, the Washington Capitals came through the gates with the passion needed for a team to even a series after losing in three overtimes. Within the first FIVE minutes, the Caps peppered Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist with 7 shots. The Caps also blocked 26 shots to the Rangers 7, which is a staggering amount given that the Rangers are a great shot-blocking team.
Ever since head coach Dale Hunter took over the Washington Capitals in the middle of the regular season, he’s built in a team-first mentality that’s dependent on four lines contributing equally. Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals and the philosophy was the same, except it was the core group of Caps players that led the way in their 3-2 win over the New York Rangers at Verizon Center Saturday afternoon.
Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green, otherwise known as the “Young Guns,” the three guys who dominated stat sheets just a few years ago with their high-octane brand of hockey, all chipped in with goals today, leading the Caps to victory and evening the series with the Rangers at two games apiece.
You think fans are the only ones who take gut-wrenching, triple-overtime playoff losses hard?
Well, just ask Karl Alzner how his dogs handle them? Better yet, just look at the photographic evidence of their dismay.
After the Washington Capitals lost a 2-1 triple-overtime thriller to the New York Rangers Wednesday, the Caps defenseman returned to his home only to find that his two precious pooches either could not stand the tension of overtime hockey in the playoffs, or they were incredibly upset with Rangers forward Marian Gaborik for scoring the game-winner and needed to take out their frustrations on some bags of trash.
The magic of the playoffs is that the most maligned player on the ice can be the hero. Everyone has been in one of these moments -even Wayne Gretzky in 1993 with the Kings. Last night, it was Marian Gaborik’s turn.
In Triple Overtime, Gaborik scored on a quick feed in front by Brad Richards to win Game 3 between the Rangers and the Capitals. After a Dan Girardi pinch, Richards found the Rangers leading goal scorer for his first goal of the series. On the previous shift, Carl Hagelin found Gaborik in the slot, but Gaborik’s redirection hit the goal post. Gaborik had only one goal in the nine playoff games this post-season and his shot total was alarmingly low 3 shots in the series. In Game 3, Gaborik recorded seven shots, which was to most for either side.
In Game 1, the Washington Capitals held the New York Rangers to 14 shots. They blocked shots, withstood and early surge from the home team and hit four goal posts. In Game 2, they beat the Rangers at their game and won with a late Power Play goal from their captain.
Late in the third period after the Rangers tied the game on a Power Play tip-in by Captain Ryan Callahan, Brad Richards was called for holding and sent to the box. Richards was incensed by the call, but referee Stephen Walkom deemed it worthy of two minutes in the Sin Bin. It took Alexander Ovechkin four seconds to make the Rangers pay, taking a face-off win and wristing a screened shot past Henrik Lundqvist.
It’s always said that when the playoffs role around, your star players need to be your best players in order to move on. But usually, star players get plenty of ice time to shine.
That hasn’t been the case for Alexander Ovechkin.
For the third time in the past five games, Ovechkin played less than 17 minutes in a Stanley Cup playoff game for the Caps on Monday. In fact, Ovi played a career-low in the postseason of just 13:36 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Rangers. But the Caps captain made the most of it, netting what would be the game-winner in a 3-2 victory for Washington.
What a difference a month makes? The enigmatic New York Rangers offense was in need of a consistent goal-scorer and Chris Kreider was playing out the season at Boston College. The Rangers just passed on a bonafide star in Rick Nash after Columbus rejected “huge” offers. Rangers fans chanted to Nash, “We Don’t Want You,” but the Rangers were still in need of a guy to put the puck in the net. Glen Sather addressed the media and said, “We have players in the minors and colligate levels we can call upon.”
Ever hear about something being the same, but different. Well, stop me if you’ve heard this before. Rangers and the Capitals meet in the playoffs. For a while, that wasn’t the case. In 2009, the teams met for the first time since 1994.
This is now their third meeting in the last four years. The players are the same (for the most part) and the locations will be the same…but there’s changes to the schedule as the roles are reversed. This time, the Rangers are the favorite and the Capitals are the gritty team that eeked out two overtime game-winners ousting the Stanley Cup Champion Bruins.
The NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals playoff series have concluded with three game 7s on Wednesday and Thursday evening. Wednesday saw the Washington Capitals upset the higher seeded Boston Bruins in their own building in overtime. On Thursday, the New York Rangers found victory at home against the underdog Ottawa Senators. In addition, the New Jersey Devils upset the higher seeded Florida Panthers in double overtime.
Moving forward to round 2 of the playoffs, the Rangers will host the Capitals in a best of seven series. The Philadelphia Flyers will do the same for the Devils. The Flyers open the round 2 series hosting the Devils at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Sunday, April 29th in a matinee game.
