Washington Capitals survive third period scare against Rangers
The Washington Capitals looked like they were going to cruise to a 4-0 win. Then the New York Rangers, a pesky team that has given the Caps issues throughout the season, mounted a comeback in a wild third period that saw a combined six goals. The Caps hung on for a 5-4 win.
The first period was scoreless as the Caps had one power play opportunity but couldn’t score. The Caps led in shots 11-6.
The game was broadcasted on NBC and naturally they were criticizing Tom Wilson‘s game. Well Wilson had two goals and he scored the first of those two at 10:43. Jakub Vrana used his speed to fly down the ice and rip the shot. He missed but Wilson was there to clean it up.
The Caps doubled their lead at 12:29 with a goal from Alex Ovechkin on a shot from his office that wasn’t a slapshot but rather a nifty wrist shot. T.J. Oshie and Dmitry Orlov had the helpers and for Ovechkin, it was his 18th goal of the season.
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At 15:07 Wilson added his second goal of the game. After he committed a penalty, the Caps killed it off and Wilson came out of the box to rebound in a shot from Nicklas Backstrom for his ninth goal of the season. Oshie had the secondary assist.
3-0 was the score after 40 with the Caps leading in shots 8-5 in the second.
The Caps made it 4-0 when Garnet Hathaway fed the puck to Carl Hagelin. Hagelin, who was behind the net, fed it to Evgeny Kuznetsov up the middle and he ripped it in at 5:10 for his sixth goal of the season.
Then the Rangers mounted a comeback. Colin Blackwell got the visitors on the board at 6:42. Blackwell added his second goal of the game at 9:41. The Caps would answer with a goal from Oshie at 11:46. Oshie tipped in a shot from Justin Schultz in front of the net. Orlov was credited with the secondary assist.
Top draft pick Alexis Lafreniere scored at 12:18 and Chris Kreider added a power play goal at 16:08 but the Caps were able to close it out to avoid overtime with a 5-4 win.
The Rangers outshot the Caps 9-3 in the third period but the Caps finished with the edge 22-20 overall. Ilya Samsonov made 16 saves for an .800 save percentage for his second win in a row after shutting out the New Jersey Devils a few nights ago.
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The Caps and Rangers meet again on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.