Rangers vs. Capitals Recap 2/28/2017

The New York Rangers came into the first period playing with a lot of puck possession- something that is needed against the best offensive team in the league, the Washington Capitals. We’re missing 3 Rangers from the lineup tonight, as Zibanejad, Klein, and Girardi are out with injuries. Since 3 more Rangers had left to go to the locker room, we have needed to play stronger together as a team. Rookie Brady Skjei joined the rush, and a tick-tac-toe pass from Miller to Clendening to Skjei put us on the board at 14:52 in the first.

Into the second period, the Rangers began to fall apart. The defense wasn’t working together, and the offense couldn’t finish. They’ve been too cute-not enough pucks to the net. The Power Play has continued to fail to produce for 10 games. The Rangers’ use of the drop pass in the neutral zone, and sloppy turnovers help kill off the penalty for the other team. The Rangers slipped on defense and allowed Marcus Johansson to tie the game 1-1. With 3:34 left in the second period, Henrik Lundqvist gets screened on a play, and Brett Connolly scores to give the Caps a 2-1 lead.

The Rangers couldn’t get themselves together for the third. They were bullied around in their own arena. A deflection in front of the net gave Johnasson his second goal of the game at 18:46. There was tension throughout the entire game, as both teams were playing physical games. Washington was trying to establish themselves against the Rangers and the lack of aggression from NY allowed for Washington to have the advantage. Jesper Fast, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, and Henrik Lundqvist were all rocked in the game- an obvious blow on the team. On a Power Play, 2:04 left in the 3rd, Nicklas Backstrom deflects the puck in the net for a final score of 4-1.

“We were not being simple, and working hard.” – Ryan McDonagh

“Get pucks to the net, crash the net and have better execution.”- Ryan McDonagh

Postgame Interviews

Washington Capitals (42-13-7)	4	vs.	1	New York Rangers (40-21-2)
38	Shots			30
1/2	Power Play			0/4
52.9%	Faceoff%			47.1%
Johansson: 2 Goals (21) Assist Orlov: Assist Kuznetsov: 2 Assists Connolly: Goal (13) Niskanen: 2 Assists Eller: Assist Carlson: Assist Holtby: 29 Saves			Skjei: Goal (3) Clendening: Assist Miller: Assist Lundqvist: 34 Saves
Third Star: Matt Niskanen Second Star: Evgeny Kuznetsov First Star: Marcus Johansson