Henrik Lundqvist and his NY Rangers came up aces against the NHL’s best team during a Sunday matinee at Madison Square Garden.
- New York Rangers 2 (38-19-1, 77 pts)
- Washington Capitals 1 (39-12-7, 85 pts)
- NHL, Final, Box Score
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Oh, wait … that’s exactly what the New York Rangers were tasked with when Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals came to Manhattan for a Sunday matinee at the Garden. The team with the most points in the NHL, 85, represented a top challenge for the Blueshirts only days after the New York Islanders snapped their season high six-game winning streak last Thursday night.
After 60 minutes of play, the Isles failure feels more like a bump in the road than a worrisome note. New York defeated Washington by the final of 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
In contrast to their identity, the Rangers played this one with the flow, rather than against it. It was a traditional, playoff-like defensive effort that didn’t allow for much open ice or many scoring opportunities.
The goals that were scored, however, were of the pretty variety. Ryan McDonagh‘s opening goal coming at the 7:49 mark of the first period exemplified that previous statement:
What a pretty, pretty, pretty goal by the captain, Ryan McDonagh. Rangers up 1-0 early. #NYR pic.twitter.com/hUFCx6mlsB
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) February 19, 2017
Alain Vigneault‘s squad thought they had taken a 2-0 lead with Mika Zibanejad put one in, but a Barry Trotz challenge (offside) negated it. Instead, it was Ovechkin’s power-play goal late in the second frame that acted as the equalizer.
Ovi did what Ovi does. #CapsNYR #RockTheRed pic.twitter.com/OrPBDRdqkh
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 19, 2017
Mika and company prevailed, though, as it was his line who registered the only goal in the third period, the game-winner coming off the stick of Mats Zuccarello set up beautifully by Chris Kreider:
What a goal off the faceoff. Zibs, Kreids, Zuc. 2-1 #NYR in the third. pic.twitter.com/ymOx3r6glz
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) February 19, 2017
From there, strong defense and Henrik Lundqvist stood tall. Hank, who finished with 31 saves on 32 total shots, was forced to make a few big saves late. On the other end of the ice, Philipp Grubauer stopped 28 of the 30 he was tasked with.
The Caps have now lost two straight while the Rangers get back in the win column after the Isles disappointment last week. The Rangers now have 77 points and remain in the No. 1 wild card slot in the Eastern Conference.
Next up for New York will be the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Ohhh, what a save by Hank. Still 1-0 Rangers. #NYR pic.twitter.com/d3xZhKbMYl
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) February 19, 2017
Together #NYR salute the fans @TheGarden after the win!! #RangersTown pic.twitter.com/WC7IWvhzbS
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 19, 2017
HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY!!! #RangersTown pic.twitter.com/hqgai3tZKG
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 19, 2017
Together we salute #NYR equipment manager Cass Marques for working his 1,500th game! pic.twitter.com/E0AJDMRtf2
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 19, 2017
.@Giants Head Coach Ben McAdoo cheering on #NYR @TheGarden today! pic.twitter.com/3epPUdXoge
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 19, 2017
