Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images
The Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 3-2 (OT) Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. After the teams traded goals in the opening frame and played a scoreless second period, the teams headed to the second intermission tied 1-1. The Rangers added a late goal by Ryan Spooner to make it 2-1, but the Caps would rally late with a goal from Lars Eller with 1:05 left in the game. Evgeny Kuznetsov would win it in overtime. The Capitals return to action Friday noght when they host the Carolina Panthers at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is 7:00 p.m.
STARTERS
Braden Holtby (31-15-4, 3.03 GAA, .909 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Henrik Lundqvist (25-24-6, 2.94 GAA, .915 sv%) started in goal for the visiting Rangers. The Capitals starting forward lines and defensive pairs:
Forwards:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Burakovsky-Backstrom-Oshie
Gersich-Eller-DSP
Stephenson-Beagle-Chiasson
Defensive pairs:
Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-Djoos
Scratches: Philipp Grubauer, Jakub Vrana, Brett Connolly and Jakub Jerabek. Shane Gersich made his NHL debut in this game.
FIRST PERIOD
The Rangers struck first with a power play goal from Kevin Hayes at 12:42 of the first period.
The Capitals would tie the game in the last-minute of the period with a goal from Andre Burakovsky at 19:27 of the opening frame.
The period would end with the game tied 1-1. The Rangers outshot the Capitals 18-8 for the first 20 minutes. the Rangers were 1 for 2 and the Capitals 0 for 1 on the power play in the first period.
SECOND PERIOD
The second period had plenty of juice but no scoring. Both sides had a number of quality scoring chances, but Lundqvist and Holtby were up to all challenges. The Capitals outshot the Rangers 13-9 for the middle frame, with the Rangers leading 27-21 after two periods of play. The Rangers were 1 for 4 and the Capitals 0 for 3 on the man advantage after 40 minutes of play.
THIRD PERIOD
The Rangers would take the lead with a goal from Ryan Spooner at 10:35 of the final frame. The goal was setup by a Caps turnover in the neutral zone.
The Capitals would tie the game with Holtby pulled in a 6-on-5 with a goal from Lars Eller at 18:55 of the final period.
OVERTIME
Evgeny Kuznetsov would win it in overtime.
SHAVINGS
- Shane Gersich made his NHL debut. He becomes the 100th player from North Dakota to play in the NHL.
- Shane Gersich became the fifth Capitals rookie to make his NHL debut this season. Gersich logged 8:52 of ice time and recorded three shots.
- Andre Burakovsky opened the scoring for the Capitals and tied the game. That’s his 10th goal of the season. Nicklas Backstrom recorded the primary assist, his 15th point (3g, 12a) in his last 10 games.
- Nicklas Backstrom recorded two assists and now has 16 points (3g, 13a) in his last 10 games.
- Tonight’s attendance was 18,506, the Capitals 401st consecutive sellout at Capital One Arena.
- The NHL box score is here.
SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT
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