Kuznetsov's Walk Off in OT Gives Caps 3-2 Win

Braden Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist have both won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top netminder, and both have also been Vezina finalists. But both have fallen on hard times of late, and both were making their first starts after brief injury-related absences on Wednesday when the Caps and Rangers hooked up in Washington.

The two goaltenders spent most of the evening turning in vintage performances and trading saves before the Rangers' Ryan Spooner scored to nudge New York ahead 2-1 midway through the third period. For a while, it looked like Lundqvist would prevail, but the Caps rallied late and won a game in which they never led.

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored a dazzler just 38 seconds into overtime to give the Caps their fifth straight win, a 3-2 triumph over the Rangers. As the extra attacker for Holtby, Lars Eller scored the game-tying tally in a six-on-five situation with 65 seconds remaining in regulation, setting the stage for Kuznetsov's extra session heroics.

Kuznetsov collected the puck in neutral ice and gained the New York zone, circling and giving the appearance that he was waiting for fresh troops and that he might even carry back out to neutral territory to hand it off and go for a change himself. Instead, he turned toward the New York net and wound up, faked a slapper, then zipped a laser of a wrist shot past Lundqvist's glove to give Washington its ninth win in its last 10 games.

"I wanted to go one-on-one so badly over there," recounts Kuznetsov, "But I knew we had played for quite a while and I've got to save the puck, and then I did the pull up. No one came at me; [the Rangers] were probably tired a little bit, too. I don't know what happened with me - I decided to shoot. But it ended up working pretty nice. It feels nice, for sure."

Wednesday's game was an entertaining contest, the back half of a home-and-home set after Washington rode a four-goal first frame to a 4-2 victory in Monday night's opener in New York.

New York got off to a much better start in Wednesday's rematch, and the Rangers got on the board first, too, playing for the first time after being mathematically eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoff chase.

The Blueshirts drew a pair of first-period power plays, and they used the first of those man advantage opportunities to forge a 1-0 lead. The Rangers actually scored that power-play goal without any of the officials on the ice noting it. Play continued and a whistle was blown for no apparent reason, a pretty good indication that the league's "war room" personnel had detected the puck completely crossing the line.

Sure enough, Kevin Hayes nudged the disc over the goal line in the midst of a goalmouth scramble, and he was credited with a power-play goal - the Rangers' first in four games against Washington this season - at 12:42 of the first.

Right away, well before the whistle, Holtby knew it was a goal.

"Yeah, I knew it right away," says Holtby. "It was pretty clear."

Less than a minute later, the Caps had a chance to get even when rookie Rangers defenseman Rob O'Gara rapped Kuznetsov on the wrists, giving the Caps center a penalty shot opportunity. Lundqvist gloved that bid, but the Caps were able to draw even just before the first intermission.

Brooks Orpik forced a Jimmy Vesey turnover as the Rangers winger exited his own zone, and T.J. Oshie was able to get on the right side of Blueshirts rookie Filip Chytil in picking up the loose puck. Re-entering New York ice on the left side on a three-on-two, Oshie fed Nicklas Backstrom in the high slot, and Backstrom went laterally to Andre Burakovsky. From the right dot, Burakovsky threaded a shot through Lundqvist's pads to square the score at 1-1 with just 32.1 seconds left in the first frame.

Burakovsky's goal was a big one; the Rangers outshot the Caps 18 -8 in the first and were seconds away from getting to the room with a lead.

The second period was scoreless, but not boring. Holtby made an excellent save on New York's Jesper Fast just 11 seconds into the period, the first of nine stops he would make in the middle frame.

Washington was unable to get anything going with a pair of power play chances, and New York had a golden opportunity to take the lead and add to it when Caps defenseman Michal Kempny was given a double minor for hi-sticking late in the second. Holtby probably made his best stop - a left toe save on a Vladislav Namestnikov rebound chance - during that New York power play, and the Caps were able to kill both ends of the Kempny double minor, sending the game into the third still even at 1-1.

The Rangers retook the lead on Spooner's transition goal midway through the third. The Caps won a face-off at the New York line and carried into the Rangers' zone, but John Carlson lost control of the puck and the Blueshirts came back in transition. Two nights after victimizing the Caps for his first NHL goal, rookie center Lias Andersson earned his first NHL assist against Washington, springing Spooner into the Caps' zone. Spooner put a shot just inside the far post to give New York a 2-1 lead with 9:25.

Lundqvist made an excellent stop on Backstrom with 7:39 left, but the Washington center set up Eller's tying tally late. From behind the net, Backstrom fed Eller in front, and the latter chipped the puck over Lundqvist's right shoulder to tie it up.

"It's so frustrating to lose this game," says Lundqvist. "We worked so hard, all of us. It felt like as good as we were all game to keep us in the game, we can't give up that look at five-on-six; that's too easy. It's disappointing. Other than that, we played a really good game."

That's all true, but New York coach Alain Vigneault had another beef altogether with that sequence.

"At the end of the day, on that play they had too many men on the ice," says Vigneault. "In my opinion, it was an easy call to make. Their goaltender was 10 feet away from their bench, and their guys stepping on the ice played the puck, and the referee is looking at it. It was an easy call to make; they didn't make it.

"Unfortunately, on the goal we got caught on the wrong side of the post and they were able to get the goal. But at the end of the day, we played a real competitive game. I thought we deserved a better fate after that strong first period. We had the lead in the third and almost got the job done, but we didn't."

Not quite, no. But both goaltenders should be pleased with their overall efforts and performances on Wednesday. Both turned in strong outings.

"He played great," says Kuznetsov of Lundqvist. "He saved a couple of times on me some crazy saves. We expect him to play well."

"Holts [stood] on his head a couple of times," says Burakovsky. "Bad luck on the first goal; I think he was right there and he made some good saves. It was good to have Holts back in the net, too."