For the second time in the four games of the Eastern Quarterfinal Series
between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals took overtime to decide
the outcome. The bad news for the
Rangers was the outcome was the same with the Capitals getting the game on
Jason Chimera’s goal 12:36 into the second overtime to give Washington the 4-3
victory. One has to wonder if that goal
was one that will silence the Garden crowd for the rest of the summer as the
Capitals now have a 3-1 series lead with a chance to close it in Game 5 on
Saturday in Washington.
The utter silence of the Garden crowd as the puck went in was even more
shocking when compared to the raucous nature of the crowd from the beginning of
the game and especially after the Rangers took the 3-0 lead in the second. The best chant came after that goal when the Garden
had erupted with a beautiful “Can You Hear Us?” chant directed at Capitals
coach Bruce Boudreau. The beauty of that
chant seems so far away at this point, as does the level of noise that came
with it.
The winner for the Capitals came on a breakdown between Marian Gaborik and
Henrik Lundqvist as Lundqvist went to smother the puck for a whistle while
Gaborik poked the loose puck away from his goaltender and to Chimera for the
winner. For many it is ironically
fitting that Gaborik who has struggled so mightily to regain the form he had last
season in the scoring department helped assist the Capitals in scoring the
winner. To blame Gaborik is easy at the
moment, but the loss tonight is much bigger than him or any one play in the
game.
The Rangers were a perfect 29-0-0 when leading after two periods during the
regular season, so blowing a three goal lead in the final period was a bigger
problem than just Gaborik’s mistake in the second overtime. If you want to truly blame something for the
loss, look no further than the power play which was 0-for-7 tonight and now
1-for-18 in the series. You cannot win
in the playoffs when your power play is that anemic.
The first period was yet another scoreless first as it has been in every
game of the series. The second period
saw the Rangers dominate the action while scoring three goals. Artem Anisimov would open the scoring 5:24
into the period when he scored from behind the goal line. Anisimov got the puck behind the net and banked
it off Mark Hendricks before getting by Neuvirth.
Marian Gaboirk extended the lead to 2-0 at 13:40 of the second. Gaborik will get credit for the goal in the
boxscore, but the goal belongs to Ruslan Fedotenko and his tremendous work from
behind the net to the slot where he fired a perfect backhand pass to Gaborik
for the tap-in. The goal was Gaborik’s
first of the series.
With the Garden flying from the second goal of the game, the Rangers tacked
on a third seven seconds later when Brandon Dubinsky beat Neuvirth with a shot
from the slot. Once again full credit
for the goal goes to Fedotenko.
Fedotenko broke in the zone off the face-off at center, shot wide, but
hustled behind the net to win the puck back and fed Dubinsky for the goal. The two goals in seven seconds was one off
the team record of two goals in six seconds and two seconds off the NHL playoff
record.
The Rangers outstanding second period was overshadowed by an abysmal third
in which they squandered all three goals of their lead. The Capitals came out with tremendous energy
to start the third and the Rangers didn’t match it. Alex Semin scored just 2:47 into the third on
a goal in which Henrik Lundqvist attempted to cover the puck, but the whistle
never blew and Semin finally stuffed it in.
There were definitely some quick whistles on the Capitals end of the ice
in terms of stoppage for Neuvirth, which is fair as a comparison. In terms of the play itself, Lundqvist never had
control of the puck, so the fact there was no whistle was the right call.
Just 57 seconds after the Semin goal, Marcus Johannson brought the Capitals
to within one when he was left all alone in front for the tap-in off the feed
from Brooks Laich.
The worst call of the night came at 10:03 of the third when Avery was
whistled for a phantom slash on Alex Ovechkin after Dubinsky was pulled down at
the other end and got no call. The
Capitals did not officially convert on the call, but just four seconds after
the penalty ended Washington tied the game, as Marcus Johansson deflected John
Carlson's point shot by Lundqvist at 12:07.
Early in the overtime the Rangers were going to have a 2-on-0 with Dubinsky
and Gaborik after a beautiful outlet pass from Ryan McDonagh, but Dubinsky was
stopped by referee Paul Devorski.
Alexander Ovechkin broke in with 8:59 left in overtime only to be turned
aside by the glove of Henrik Lundqvist.
Ovechkin came out at Staal on the point and when Staal’s shot attempt
was blocked Ovechkin kept going leading to breakaway.
