rangers caps

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

The Rangers beat the league-best Washington Capitals on the second game of a back to back in a nail-biting finish. Coming out strong in the first with sustained pressure and solid puck possession the Rangers scored two goals, but took their foot of the gas in the second a bit. A strange and highly disputable goal call then cut the Caps’ deficit in half, and they tied it up shortly thereafter with a goal from TJ Oshie.

Derek Stepan had other plans however, putting the Rangers back on top almost immediately after the start of the third. From there on out it was a tense game, with the Caps sustaining some serious pressure as the Rangers attempted to defend their one-goal lead. They were up to the task, and Raanta made some key saves to help the team to a nice win leading into their showdown with the Islanders on Sunday.

Rangers 1 Caps 0

Sustained pressure by the Rangers leads to the first goal of the game. McDonagh takes the initial shot from the blue line but it’s blocked halfway to the net. Dan Girardi then bats it towards the net again, where it finds itself at the feet of Jesper Fast, who puts it in.

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/705910887090008064

Rangers 2 Caps 0

It’s a powerplay goal! Yandle moves the puck to Brassard along the blueline, who then puts it back to him, followed by an outside shot which finds its way past Holtby. Chris Kreider screening the goalie in front helps make this one happen.

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/705916544681791489

Rangers 2 Caps 1

I got nothing on this one. Somehow it’s a goal.

Rangers 2 Caps 2

Oshie enters the zone carrying the puck with pace, covered by Marc Staal. Oshie makes it to the faceoff dot and snaps the shot, beating Raanta. Not great covereage here by Staal, and you’d imagine that Raanta wants this one back.

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/705932615560273921

Rangers 3 Caps 2

Stepan works on the puck down low and it makes its way around the boards to Ryan McDonagh along the half boards. The Captain puts it right back to Stepan as he comes up and curls around the top of the circle towards the slot, snapping the shot as he does so.

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/705938752007344128

Shot Attempts and Scoring Chances

chart (20)chart (21)

The Rangers led in possession in the first and kept it relatively even in the second until the second half of the period, when the Caps pulled ahead in both shot attempts and scoring chances.

Shot Locations

Screen Shot 2016-03-04 at 10.16.41 PM

Not only did the Caps have more shots in the home plate area than the Rangers, they had more shots in general. This divergence occurred mostly in the second half of the game, as seen in the charts above.

Individual Corsi

Screen Shot 2016-03-04 at 10.19.37 PM

Although this one shows that most Rangers were in negative possession territory and most Caps were positive in possession, take this one with a grain of salt. The Rangers applied strong forechecking pressure in the first half of the game and had their fair share of chances up until then, they just started to play sluggishly in the second period and then flatlined throught the third.

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