Screen cap: ESPN
The New York Rangers downed the Washington Capitals, 4-1 Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. The loss drops the Capitals record to 28-16-9 (65 points) on the season.
SUMMARY
The Rangers tallied scores from Mika Zibanejad in the first period and Alexis Lafreniere in the second period for a 2-0 lead at the second intermission. They would add a goal from Kris Kreider early in the third period and a tally from Barclay Goodrow midway through the frame for a 4-0 lead. The Capitals would finally get on the board with a late goal from Alex Ovechkin for the 4-1 fianl.
STATS
STARTERS
Ilya Samsonov (17-7-0-3, 2.84 GAA, .906 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Capitals. Igor Shesterkin (24-5-0-3, 2.43 GAA, .925 sv%) got the start in goal for the Rangers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
#Caps‘ lines/pairs in NYC:
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 73-Sheary
91-Snively, 19-Backstrom, 43-Wilson
24-McMichael, 20-Eller, 77-Oshie
62-Hagelin, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 3-Jensen
57-van Riemsdyk, 2-SchultzSamsonov vs. Shesterkin. #CapsRangers
— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) February 24, 2022
Scratches: Daniel Sprong, Vitek Vanecek.
Re-assigned: Brett Leason was re-assigned to Hershey earlier in the day.
FIRST PERIOD
The Rangers opened the scoring with a shot from Mika Zibanejad (20) at 12:57 of the first period. Alexis Lafreniere (4) and Zac Jones (2) had the helpers.
Replay of the goal by Mika Zibanejad#Capitals 0 #NYR 1 P1 pic.twitter.com/M1EL4adZnP
— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) February 25, 2022
That would be it for the first, as the Rangers held a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.
The Capitals led in shot attempts, 18-13, scoring chances 9-7, with high-danger opportunities tied, 4-4. The Rangers led in expected goals .87 to .63 after 20 minutes of play.
SECOND PERIOD
The Rangers would make it 2-0 with a tally late in the middle frame. Alexis Lafreniere (11) notched the Rangers second goal with 1:12 remaining in the frame. Ryan Lingren (6) had the lone assist.
Alexis Lafreniere doubles the Ranger lead!#Capitals #NYR #allcaps #NHL
— UDDA (@UDDA_WINNER) February 25, 2022
The second period would end with the Rangers leading 2-0.
Once again the Capitals even-strength stats were better than the Rangers. The Capitals led in shot attempts 16-11, scoring chances 8-5, high-danger chances 4-3 and expected goals .82 to .37.
THIRD PERIOD
The Rangers would make it 3-0 with a goal from Kris Kreider (34) at 6:57 of the final frame. Adam Fox (42) and Mika Zibanejad (33) had the assists.
Chris Kreider nets goal #34 to pull within one of the league-lead. Alexis Lafrenière doesn’t get a point here, but is a key part of the play leading up to it #NYR pic.twitter.com/grnxkuaFTN
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) February 25, 2022
The Rangers would add a fourth goal from Barclay Goodrow (11) at 11:09 of the third period. Kevin Rooney (5) and Ryan Reaves (8) had the assists.
Ryan Reaves forces the turnover, allowing Rooney to set up Barclay Goodrow who does not miss on the breakaway backhander! 4-0 Rangers!#NYR pic.twitter.com/S3AU9Gb0fd
— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) February 25, 2022
The Capitals would finally get on the scoreboard with a goal from Alex Ovechkin (32) at 18:58 of the final frame to make it 4-1. Evgeny Kuznetsov (34) had the lone assist.
#ALLCAPS 1-4. We’ll take the Ovechkin goal. need to get better. pic.twitter.com/WzsxyUUrn0
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) February 25, 2022
That would be the final.
The Capitals are back in action on Saturday when they visit the Flyers in Philadelphia. Puck drop is set for just after 12:30 PM.
horrible game and even worse, the ESPN crew….it’s like they forgot there were two teams playing tonight. And then the constant drivel about the a Wilson vs. Reaves crap, trying to force a narrative down our throats. “Oh, it wasn’t the fireworks we expected…”
How about you shut up and let the game unfold? Otherwise, there were two goals that Sammy should’ve stopped. The PP could’ve gotten them back into—still, they gotta take Forsythe off the PP units; they were static as statues, no movement, no quick passing.
Agree. I’m not usually one to complain about broadcasting bias, but this was just downright hard to watch. ESPN is new, so you’d like to think they will eventually do better, but that was one of the worst broadcasts (content focus, slants, etc.) ive seen,
ESPN was terrible before the game even got started. All focused on potential fight between Willy and reeves, and how reaver has flipped the script. I understand they need to lease the larger New York audi nice but that was an awful viewing experiences
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a lot of changes in the next three weeks, leading up to the trade deadline.
I totally agree. Covid, Injury excuses or no, PP is absolutely predictable. I honestly hate to say it but Forsythe has to go. We can’t wait for an exit in first round when it could be fixed now with an entirely new point of view. The talent is there if the plan is better.
Also the drivel about how great Reeves is. I usually like Boucher’s commentary but not tonight.
I was thinking same, Nancy. I kinda liked Boucher’s call when he was with NBC. Not tonight, though. Hopefully they figure a better approach.
Where to begin… I guess some slack should be given for first game after week off. Seemed to be the case. Having said that, Sammy had yet another underwhelming start. He’s started the last 7? Or so? But he too was off for a week, so a little more slack I guess. It’s gonna be interesting to follow the next 3 1/2 weeks. GMBM has his hands full. This team could look really different.
Caps have no chance against the top teams like Rangers, Lightning, Canes, Panthers etc…They need to sell and do a retool at the draft and offseason. One ‘one foot out the door’ veteran goalie is not going to make much difference in how far this team could go. The Sammy/Vanny thing is not up to par so I have no idea what they could do to fix the long term goaltending issue but it obvious that there should be a few changes to all parts of the team at least to give them a chance next year and beyond.
Glad I didn’t waste my money getting whatever app/streaming service to watch this team going down the tubes. With rebuild around the corner probably won’t get service for 5 years. What a mess. Sad part is they will try to fix it with rentals delaying rebuild for at least another year.
I thought it was just me… ESPN’s call and intermission is freakin’ awful.
Caps assessment of the game… I wonder what the coaches were watching? Calling that game even is a joke. Once again Sammy let in a softie, perhaps 2. The power play? I don’t understand why the players don’t skate. Every team in the NHL knows exactly where each Caps player is going to be for two minutes.
I hate to see our team struggling so badly. Forth in Metro and still falling…
With ya, NHock. It was contrived from the start. Even before the puck dropped. I can’t rememeber a worse broadcast as far as content and focus. I dont feel I complain a lot about broadcasting. Some is good, some is bad, just like anything else. Last night’s broadcast was bad.