Outstanding defensive effort as Rangers beat Capitals 4-1

About the game

Maybe it was the early start time, but the first period was very passive when the game started. The Rangers took an early penalty to Libor Hajek,but they held the Caps to only one shot on goal, a one-timer from Ovechkin from his usual spot.  Shesterkin looked to be anticipating the shot and stopped it easily.

At 11:55, Richard Panik took a roughing penalty and the Blueshirts had their first power play and it was simply infuriating. The top unit kept the puck in the Washington zone for a full minute, but made 21 passes without a shot.  The Washington defense pressured the Rangers into some of those passes, but it was tic-tac-toe as they passed up numerous shooting opportunities and finally retreated into the neutral zone when Strome made a drop pass to no one.

Julien Gauthier, in the game for Kaapo Kakko, drew a hooking penalty on Lars Eller and the power play went back to work.  Maybe they watched their first attempt on the tablets on the bench, but this time they actually shot the puck and it worked.

This time, they made seven passes before Panarin took the one timer that Vanacek stopped, but left a rebound for Chris Kreider to put into the open net.

Shesterkin made some fine saves in the period to keep the Caps off the scoreboard.

It gave them the early lead, absolutely crucial for the Rangers.  They took the1-0 lead into the locker room though Shesterkin had to make a tough stop on Tom Wilson on the doorstep. with three minutes left.

With 2:30 left the Rangers had a chance to pad the lead when Panarin just missed and then Fox missed the open net when the puck bounced to him off the boards. .

The Caps outshot the Rangers 8-6 in the period, but the Rangers were 10 of 17 on faceoffs.  It was a very solid, well played period.

The Capitals came out with some jump in the second period, but the Rangers continued their tight defense.  Colin Blackwell had the best scoring chance of the period on a wraparound.

Julien Gauthier took a hooking penalty after giving the puck away, but again, the penalty killers were perfect.

The Capitals had an excellent chance while killing  a penalty to Garnet Hathaway.  Nic Dowd and Carl Hagelin had an odd man rush  and Dowd’s shot was off the crossbar.

The second period has been a strength for the Capitals all season, but this time it was the Rangers who struck first. With just over two minutes left in the period, Panarin found Lafrenière all alone in the crease and the rookie made a great move to put the backhand by Vanecek.

It was a goal scorer’s  goal by Lafrenière  as he didn’t rush the shot.  The assist went to Tony Bitetto who made an excellent play keeping the puck in the zone.

59 seconds later Ryan Strome took a wrist shot from the blueline and it got past the screened Capitals’ goalie.

It was a classic case of throwing the puck at the net and good things happening.

Believe it or not, it was a goal explosion and the Rangers had a 3-0 lead.  Of course, knowing the Blueshirts, they cannot stand prosperity and the Capitals scored just 38 seconds later.

It was a comedy of errors.  Libor Hajek had possession of the puck behind the net, but took a hit while making the outlet pass to Panarin who couldn’t control it.  The Caps sent it to the far boards where Zibanejad couldn’t clear it and Dmitry Orlov broke to the net and put it past Shesterkin.

The Ranger goalie would have probably wanted to have that one back and it was Zibanejad who lost his man on the play.  Needless to say the Rangers had numerous chances to get it out, but couldn’t and they allowed their sixth goal in the last two minutes of a period.

Still, they finished the period up 3-1 and kept the Caps at bay in their best period.

The third period was an excellent example of defensive hockey  as they kept the Capitals from getting any good shots.  The Rangers were uncanny in their ability to get sticks on Washington passes in the defensive zone. The Capitals had only six shots on goal in the first 15 minutes of the period.

When Tony Bitetto took a holding penalty with 4:06 left, the Caps pulled their goalie with about three minutes left in the game to get a two man advantage.  They couldn’t even get a shot on goal and when Richard Panik took a rough penalty with 1:18 it set up Mika Zibanejad for a shorthanded open net goal to seal the win.

You could see that his teammates were thrilled that Zibanejad was able to score as they mobbed him to celebrate.  It was a good win and there were a lot of smiles as the team left the ice.