2024 playoffs: first round, washington capitals vs new york rangers game 2 open thread

after a day off following game 1, the rangers and capitals are set to clash for game 2 of their first round series tonight. what started off as a sluggish, penalty-filled affair turned into the type of dominant performance pundits expected out of the rangers thanks to a flurry of three goals in less than three minutes to break the contest open. with a 4-1 victory already in the books, the blueshirts will look to defend home ice once again and head to washington with a 2-0 series lead.

as expected following the victory, peter laviolette has opted against any lineup changes. vincent iorio will not play for washington after taking a hard hit from alexis lafreniere, and former first round pick lucas johansen will take his place in the lineup and make his nhl playoff debut. since being drafted 28th overall in 2016, johansen has nine games of nhl experience, and his tenth will come at madison square garden tonight.

player to watch: matt rempe

while some rangers fans may have been concerned about getting sucked into potential antics the capitals would try to stir up, the cult hero impacted game 1 in the most unexpected of ways. rempe scored the first goal of new york's playoff run, his first home goal after only finding the back of the net once (on the road in philadelphia) during the regular season. rempe's goal was one of two the blueshirts' fourth line scored on sunday, so look for rempe and his linemates to put forth another strong effort tonight.

enjoy the game!