Rangers one-sided win over Capitals 4-1

The New York Rangers woes against playoff teams is fast becoming a mirage.  The Washington Capitals came to the Garden for the first time in over nine months and were thoroughly dismantled by a far superior Blueshirts team.  It was an impressive win.

The excuse from the ESPN team was that the Caps were coming off a one-week layoff and were “rusty.”  Rust or no rust, the Rangers were able to win by keeping the Caps off balance defensively, shutting down the Washington power play and by scoring at even strength.  It was a relative scoring explosion for the Rangers, their first outing with more than two goals since before their 2-week break and the first time they scored more than two even strength goals since January 22 versus Arizona.

The penalty kill was just outstanding.  Washington came into the game with fourth worst power play percentage in the NHL, but they were with without T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom for much of the season.  The Rangers shut them down, allowing only four shots in over seven minutes of PP time.

Of course, the last line of defense was Igor Shesterkin who had 36 saves.  The only disappointment in the game was that Alex Ovechkin scored with just 1:02 left to spoil the shutout.  After the game Shesterkin said “It is kind of annoying that I let a goal in at the end, but it doesn’t really matter if it’s a shutout or not.  The most important thing is to finish strong especially in the last five minutes.”    His personal highlight had to be stopping Alex Ovechkin on a breakaway.

Alexis Lafrenière played one of the best games of his career and had a hand in the first three Ranger goals. He is looking more and more comfortable on the right wing and is meshing with his linemates.  When asked about the adjustment to right wing, Coach Gerard Gallant said, “He’s played better hockey, he’ s playing a 200 foot game and that’s what we like…I don’t know if it’s (the transition) smooth, but he’s getting better at it and he feels better at it.”   Gallant joked after the game that after Lafrenière scored, he lined up on left wing.

Lafreniere talked about his role with the team. “As a player you always want to play lots of minutes. You’ve got to earn it too. I’ve been working hard, trying to get better.  Kreids and Mika are really helping me.”

Chris Kreider had not scored in three games, but broke the schneid.   The newly formed fourth line of Kevin Rooney, Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Reaves had a strong game and chipped in with a goal.

Coach Gallant spoke about that line, saying that he put them together because of their size and that they matched up well against the top Capitals’ lines.  “Big boys against big boys…sometimes it works for you , sometimes it backfires.  I thought they did a really good job. They really accepted that job tonight, they played against one of the top two lines against Washington. They did a good job.  That’s what we need from them…they’re big strong guys, they compete, they played the perfect game tonight for us.”

The win showed what the Rangers can do when they put together all of the positive aspects of their game.  The fact that they did it without having to score on the power play was an additional bonus.

About the game

As the game started it was all about Ryan Reaves and Tom Wilson, ad nauseum.  The ESPN announcers were looking for some mischief and it never happened.  Instead, what we got was a fast paced first period with few whistles as the two teams went from offense to defense without any really good scoring opportunities.

The Capitals had more hits, shots and won more faceoffs, but it was the Rangers who got on the board first.  Mika Zibanejad converted on a perfect drop pass from Lafrenière for his 20th goal.

Zac Jones made the outlet pass to Zibanejad for the give-and-go with Lafrenière.   Zibanejad’s one-timer was recorded as 100 mph and Samsonov had no chance.

Ryan Strome took a needless tripping penalty as time expired in the first period, so the Rangers started the second on the penalty kill.   They did a nice job on the kill and were helped when Ovechkin was called for a hook halfway though the penalty.

The Caps had another power play opportunity when Chris Kreider was called for a high stick, but the Rangers held firm and the 1-0 score looked to extend into the third period.  That’s when Lafrenière scored on a pretty deflection of a Ryan Lindgren point shot with about a minute left in the period.

The goal came after the Rangers won the faceoff in the Capitals’ zone after an icing call. The Zibanejad held the puck in the attack zone, but Washington turned it over and Lindgren took the wrist shot that Lafrenière deflected.

The Blueshirts had to start the third period on the penalty kill as Strome took another tripping penalty as time expired.   They didn’t give the goal back and at 6:57 they padded the lead when Chris Kreider scored after another good shift by the Zibanejad line in the Caps zone.  Lafrenière again made a strong play keeping possession in the attack zone. He got the puck to Zibanejad who fed Fox for a point shot.  Samsonov made the save, but the rebound went right to Kreider who had the open net.

The fourth line scored about five minutes later on a play started when Ryan Reaves checked Ovechkin who gave up the puck, setting up a two-on-one for Kevin Rooney and Barclay Goodrow.  Rooney fed Goodrow who put the backhand under Samsonov’s legs.

The Caps pulled Samsonov with four minutes left when they had their fourth power play, but could get nothing going.  Ovechkin spoiled the shutout when Strome lost a defensive draw and Evgeny Kuznetsov set up a open Ovi for the easy redirect.

Here’s a five minute recap of the game.

The Rangers remain undefeated in regulation in February and will look forward to their road game Saturday versus the Penguins.

My 3 Rangers stars

Igor Shesterkin

should have had a shutout, losing it to an Alex Ovechkin shot with a minute left. While he didn’t have to stand on his head for the win, he did make a few outstanding saves and improved all of his league leading statistics.

The official three stars

1. Alexis Lafreniere
2. Igor Shesterkin
3. Mika Zibanejad

What’s next

The Rangers travel to Pittsburgh for their first meeting of the season with the Penguins on Saturday afternoon.  The game will be televised nationally on ABC with gametime set for 3pm.

It is the first game of a back-to-back set of games as they return Sunday to play the Vancouver Canucks.   The Rangers have passed Pittsburgh in the standings into second place so after this game, the Blueshirts will either be back in third place or three games ahead of the Penguins with a firmer grasp on second place.  If the Rangers lose in overtime, they will be in a virtual tie with the Penguins.

It’s going to be a great weekend of hockey.