Washington 3, NY Rangers 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, District of Columbia
Referees:
Ghislain Hebert, Steve Kozari
Linesmen:
Derek Amell, Michel Cormier
Attendance:
18506
By Field Level Media
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored just 38 seconds into overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 victory over the visiting New York Rangers on Wednesday night.
Kuznetsov scored on a great individual effort, circling around a few New York players in the Rangers' zone and then beating goalie Henrik Lundqvist on a bullet from the left side.
The victory moved the Capitals one step closer to a clinching a playoff spot. First-place Washington, which has five games left, holds a seven-point lead on both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers in the Metropolitan Division.
The Capitals have won five in a row and nine of their past 10 games.
The Rangers were eliminated from the playoff picture when the Devils beat Carolina on Tuesday but played hard in the Wednesday contest.
Lundqvist came back after missing three games (sore back/neck) and turned in a solid performance with 30 saves. He repeatedly frustrated the Capitals in the third period.
Per NHL.com, this was the first time in his career that Lundqvist played in a game in which New York had been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
Washington goalie Braden Holtby started after coach Barry Trotz told the media earlier that Philipp Grubauer, who has played most of the recent games, had some kind of a "tweak."
That put Holtby back in net, and he played well, making 35 stops.
The Rangers kept him busy, firing 19 shots on goal in the first period and struck first.
Kevin Hayes scored a power-play goal from right in front with 7:18 left in the first period.
Moments after that, Lundqvist stopped Kuznetsov's backhander on a penalty shot to keep the 1-0 lead.
However, Washington tied it with 33 seconds remaining in the period when Andre Burakovsky ripped a shot past Lundqvist after a Nicklas Backstrom feed.
Ryan Spooner then gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead with 9:25 left in the game before Lars Eller tied it for Washington. Eller's goal came with 1:05 left and forced overtime.
Backstrom got the assist there, too, and he now has eight helpers in his past three games.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
NY Rangers |
|
Washington |
Brady Skjei 2 |
Points |
Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 |
Kevin Hayes 1 |
Goals |
Evgeny Kuznetsov 1 |
Brady Skjei 2 |
Assists |
Nicklas Backstrom 2 |
Kevin Hayes 1 |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Henrik Lundqvist .909 |
Save Percentage |
Braden Holtby .946 |
Henrik Lundqvist 30 |
Saves |
Braden Holtby 35 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
NY Rangers
|
37 |
2 |
1-5 |
3-3 |
8 |
29 |
Washington
|
33 |
3 |
0-3 |
4-5 |
12 |
33 |
Upcoming Games
-
Washington will play their next game at home against Carolina. The Capitals have a W/L % of .587 after a win and .613 after a loss.
-
NY Rangers will play their next game at home against Tampa Bay. The Rangers have a W/L % of .485 after a win and .386 after a loss.