Capitals fight to the end but drop Game 2 to Rangers

The Washington Capitals clawed back but ultimately fell short in Game 2 by a final of 4-3. They now trail the New York Rangers in the best of seven series two games to nothing with the series shifting back to Capital One Arena in DC for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

The Caps came out with energy early as Connor McMichael gave them an early 1-0 lead at 5:09. That lead was short lived as Vincent Trocheck tied it at 7:56. Mika Zibanejad struck on the power play at 14:28.

Zibanejad's PPG would be the first of five straight power play goals combined from either side. Dylan Strome would tie it back up at 4:14 in the second with assists coming from Tom Wilson and Max Pacioretty.

The Rangers would then answer with two straight goals. Jack Roslovic at 12:26 and K'Andre Miller at 16:52. Credit to the Caps they could've folded in the third period but they pushed as hard as they could.

At 11:45 the effort was finally rewarded with a Tom Wilson tip in off a Hendrix Lapierre shot. John Carlson had the secondary there. Wilson's goal was to the delight of the Madison Square Garden Crowd as in they booed him. When you get booed at The Garden as an opposing player it's a badge of honor.

In the end the Caps fell short in a game that featured 22 combined penalty minutes with the Caps having the edge 12-10 even though there were some dirty tricks played by the Rangers that weren't called.

The biggest one knocked T.J. Oshie out of the game. The Caps are off today so we won't know too much. But the culprit was Artemi Panarin and it was dirty.

The Rangers led in blocked shots 20-18 and in hits 35-26 as well as takeaways 6-4 while giving the puck away six times. The Caps went two for five on the power play while the Rangers went two for six. So both teams scored twice on the man advantage. Charlie Lindgren's night ended with 23 saves as the Caps were outshot 27-25.

Game 3 is Friday night at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network and TNT/TruTV/MAX. Caps fans need to bring it especially after the Rangers crowd brought it at The Garden the first two games. It's time to let the Rangers know about their "horrifying acts of violence".