Rangers vs. Capitals: Rangers Fall to Capitals After Late Goal Against
Coming off a 4-2 defeat to the Washington Capitals on Monday, the New York Rangers had their chance at redemption but came up empty handed yet again in Washington. Early on in this game, the Rangers had the early advantage in play and they were able to generate several decent scoring chances. That Capitals were getting frustrated as a result, and Nicklas Backstrom took a costly roughing penalty just past the halfway mark of the first period.
Nearing the end of the power play, Kevin Hayes appeared to tap the puck across the goal line but there was no official call and the play continued on. That would continue for about 30 more seconds before the horn sounded from Toronto and they awarded the Rangers the goal. The puck didn’t cross the goal line by much, but it was just enough to count as a goal and Hayes gave the Rangers the 1-0 lead.
That one goal lead would only last until the final minute of the period with Andre Burakovsky snapping a shot through Henrik Lundqvist, and making it a 1-1 game. The puck appeared to tick off of John Gimour’s stick before it came in on net, which appeared to deflect the puck back through Lundqvist’s legs.
The Capitals used that late goal to push the momentum further in their favor, and despite the numerous scoring opportunities, Henrik Lundqvist kept the game tied. With the game still deadlocked at one, Ryan Spooner had an opportunity flying down the right wing and wired a shot past Braden Holtby on the far side. Lias Andersson picked up his second career point on the goal after making a great defensive play and finding Spooner up the ice with a quick transition pass.
Up until the final minute of the game, the Rangers did a great job of keeping the Capitals in check but Lars Eller eventually tied the game with the 6-on-5 advantage. Eller was able to get inside position on Neal Pionk in the crease, and tapped a Nicklas Backstrom pass over Lundqvist to send this game to overtime. Unfortunately, this game ended pretty quick in overtime with Evgeny Kuznetsov snapping a quick shot on net, and it beat Lundqvist under the arm to give the Capitals the 3-2 victory.
Following tonight’s loss, the Rangers will have a scheduled off day on Thursday before meeting up with the Tampa Bay Lightning in their final home game of the season.
