chris kreider

Damn does it feel good to beat the Washington Capitals. A standout performance from Henrik Lundqvist and some ludicrous pace from the rest of the team early on helped the Rangers to a 2-1 victory over their perennial playoff rivals in Sunday’s matinee game. Although the Rangers took their foot off the gas in the second period, a solid third frame helped seal the deal.

Depending on how you look at things this was either a positive litmus test for the Rangers heading into the home stretch or emblematic of the team’s inability to play three solid periods of hockey, all while hiding behind their all-star goaltender. I’ll leave that up to you to decide – here are the goals.

RANGERS 1 CAPITALS 0

This one is a simply outrageous goal by Ryan McDonagh. He enters the zone carrying the puck in down the wing and takes a quick shot as he’s coming down the circle. The rebound then kicks out at a 45 degree angle from the goal line, which the Captain scoops up and then dangles through the skates of Nicklas Backstrom before ripping the shot and scoring the goal. Phenomenal stuff from McDonagh.

RANGERS 1 CAPITALS 1

 I’m not sure how much I need to explain this one – it’s Ovechkin at the top of the left circle, what else do you need to know? We’ve seen this one a thousand times before and while it’s sort of one of my favorite things in hockey that he always gets his shot no matter which team he’s playing, it’s also one of my least favorite things about the Rangers that they still haven’t figured out how to defend it. It goes without saying that Ovi is a force of nature, but one would hope the Rangers would learn eventually how to shut him down on the PP. Here’s to hoping this is the year I guess.

RANGERS 2 CAPITALS 1

 Mats Zuccarello from Chris Kreider on what looks like a set play but as the broadcast team explained later in the game, it apparently wasn’t. Zibanejad wins the faceoff and immediately dishes to Kreider, who makes a power move down to the goal line below the circle. He then finds Zucc in the slot, who immediately hits the shot and scores the goal. A nice one-two-three faceoff win/pass/shot combo for the tiebreaking goal.

5V5 SHOT ATTEMPTS

This shows pretty much what we all saw – the Rangers came out swinging and then the Caps took over in the second period. The Rangers did get the momentum back somewhat in the third period however, and I think the most noteworthy thing is that right at the end there you can see the Rangers kept pushing instead of shelling, which is nice to see and hopefully a conscious adjustment that AV is making.

Coaching adjustments or no, the Rangers found a way to stymie the Caps’s momentum throughout the second and third periods and hang on for the win. This is a big one no matter which way you cut it, with 2 points against a divisional rival always coming in handy at this time of year. While I’d certainly like to see some type of improvement from the style of play the Rangers demonstrated today if they do end up meeting the Caps in the playoffs (as is tradition), I also can’t complain because it truly does feel almost too sweet to beat the Caps, especially at home.

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