Caps Fall to Rangers, 5-2

Winners of 10 of their previous 11 and owning a four-game road winning streak, the Caps opened up a five-game road trip on Tuesday night against the Rangers in New York. But after a strong start early in the first, the Caps yielded five unanswered goals - including four in the third period - on their way to a 5-2 setback to the Blueshirts.

"I didn't like the last 10 minutes of the first period at all," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "I didn't think that we were very sharp for the first 10 minutes of the second period.
"The third period and the second period, I thought we were actually tighter, but the mistakes that we made were really big mistakes. So it wasn't a quantity [issue] in the second and third period, but the quality of the chances that they got, those are the ones that you need to stay away from."
Washington out together an assertive start, and it jumped out to an early advantage. New York's Kevin Rooney was sent off for holding Caps defenseman Nick Jensen in the offensive zone in the game's second minute, and Washington ended an 0-for-13 power play dry spell on the ensuing extra-man opportunity.
From the right half-wall, Caps center Nicklas Backstrom surveyed his options with patience, then put one on a tee for T.J. Oshie, whose one-timer from the diamond beat New York's Igor Shesterkin at 2:23 of the first, staking the Caps to an early lead.
A shade under two minutes later, the Caps doubled that advantage with a goal from their fourth line. Garnet Hathaway chased after Brenden Dillon's high flip into New York ice, carrying it to the cage and trying to jam it home near the right post. As Hathaway and Carl Hagelin continued to hammer at the puck, it popped in front and Nic Dowd poked it home for a 2-0 Washington lead at 4:22 of the second.
The Caps kept the heat on for a few more minutes, and Shesterkin made a couple good stops - including a snazzy glove save on Dowd - to prevent Washington from expanding its lead.
New York didn't register its first shot until the ninth minute of the first, and the Caps unwittingly aided the Rangers' turnaround by taking a bench minor for too many men at 12:29. The Caps weathered that penalty kill in their end, and just over a minute later New York cut into the Washington lead.
Dmitry Orlov lost the handle on the puck at the New York line, and Rangers center Filip Chytil tore off on a breakaway, beating Vitek Vanecek to make it a 2-1 game at 15:36.
The Caps weathered a late New York power play in the first as well as a Rangers push early in the second. Washington was better in the back half of the middle period but wasn't able to add to its advantage, and it nursed that narrow 2-1 lead into the third.
Entering Tuesday's game, the Caps owned an 18-1-0 mark in games in which they led heading into the third while New York was 0-10-0 in games in which it trailed going into the final frame. The Rangers set about flipping that script with two early strikes before the first television timeout of the third.
First, the Rangers scored in transition when Artemi Panarin intercepted a Zdeno Chara pass near the New York line. Panarin carried into Washington ice and started off a tic-tac-toe play that culminated in Kaapo Kakko's tying goal at 4:10 of the third.
Less than three minutes later the Rangers went ahead for good. Ryan Lindgren made a strong play at the Washington line, blunting Oshie's exit try and keeping the puck alive for the Blueshirts. Panarin collected it and fed Adam Fox, who was moving in a northerly direction. Fox carried it to the cage and beat Vanecek with a nifty backhander to the shelf, making it a 3-2 game at 6:32.
Panarin got into the act himself at 15:41 of the third, sneaking behind the Washington defense and getting loose on a breakaway. Taking a feed from Brendan Smith, Panarin cruised in alone and scored to make it a 4-2 game.
The Caps pulled Vanecek for an extra attacker and had a late power play chance as well when Smith cracked Oshie from behind with a cross-check, but Pavel Buchnevich accounted for the 5-2 final with an empty-net shorthanded goal with 34.9 seconds left.
"To be honest," says Dowd, "I think we got a little comfortable there really quick with a 2-0 lead. I think we were filled a little bit with ourselves and we quit doing the things that got us there. Then they started turning the tide.
"In the third, they were able to tie it. And then we give up obviously the last four or five goals in a row there, unanswered. We got a little complacent."