POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Rangers 3, Caps 1
Caps seven-game winning streak is stopped in Saturday night setback to Rangers, Wilson returns, Kuznetsov and Panik play 500th NHL games, more
A night earlier, the Caps overcame a sluggish start and extended their winning streak to seven with a pair of late rebound goals from Alex Ovechkin. They actually played a better game on Saturday and lost, but that's the way the game goes sometimes.
Mika Zibanejad executed a swipe and snipe to snap a 1-1 tie with 2:32 left in regulation to snap a 1-1 tie and lift the Rangers to victory; New York tacked on an empty-netter in the final half minute.
"We played well," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "I think we came out strong and took away their time and space in the first. They're a good team, they're a desperate team and they're playing hard. I thought it was a pretty good game; there wasn't a ton either way but that being said, we get into the third [period] and they made the most of it late in the game."
For the second time in as many nights against the Rangers, the Caps entered the third period trailing 1-0. When John Carlson scored to tie the game at 5:55 of the third, it finished off a dominant offensive zone shift for Washington; all five New York skaters had been on the ice and firmly hemmed into the Rangers' zone for at least 1:28; a trio of them had been on the ice for just over two minutes.
The Caps dominated the third period in terms of possession, but also misfired on a number of good scoring opportunities. New York blocked 23 Washington shot tries on the night, and the Caps missed the net on 19 other attempts, including a dozen of them in the third period.
"I think it was two pretty tight games," says Carlson. "I think for the most part [Friday's] game - in the first half, anyways - they kind of took it to us. But I thought we played well tonight. You want to find ways to win no matter how it shakes out, whether we're dominating or whether we're getting dominated, too. I think it doesn't matter how much success we've had as players. As competitors we just want to do anything we can to win and I think we're all disappointed regardless of how we've been playing lately."
"It's tough," says Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov, whose six-game point streak was also halted on Saturday. "I think we generated some chances and the puck was not going into the net. I thought the game was pretty even. They got the late goal, they got a little bit lucky. But I don't think they outworked us, I don't think they outworked us, I don't think they outplayed us. I think it's a pretty even game in a back-to-back; I think that was fifty/fifty."
Saturday's setback to the Rangers was the Caps' third in four games against New York this season. Washington has had only four games of its 31 contests this season in which it hasn't held a lead at any point, and three of those were losses to the Rangers. The Caps are 14-3-1 in their last 18 games, with three of the four losses coming against New York.
"It's definitely a different feel when you play these guys," says Washington winger Carl Hagelin. "I can't really put my finger on what it is, but I think they do a good job in terms of playing to their strengths. In every game they've done a good job of keeping us to the outside and not giving us a ton of chances. You can see on the rush they always have four or five guys back, so that's their man thing."
Back In The Saddle - Wilson returned to the Washington lineup on Saturday night for the first time in two weeks after serving a seven-game NHL suspension for a hit on Bruins blueliner Brandon Carlo in a March 5 game in Boston.
"Maybe a little bit of rust in the first but then I got my legs under me," says Wilson of his return. "The team has been playing really well, I think we're starting to play the right way. I just wanted to jump in and try to provide some legs and help the team out."
Wilson ended the night with 16:33 in ice time. He picked up an assist on Carlson's third-period goal, and also recorded a hit and a blocked shot. Each of his four shot attempts in the contest was blocked, but one of those also resulted in his assist.
Twin 500s - Both Kuznetsov and Caps winger Richard Panik played in their 500th career NHL games on Saturday against the Rangers.
Drafted in the first round (26th overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft, Kuznetsov has played the entirety of his NHL career with Washington since making his NHL debut with the Capitals on March 10, 2014 in a home game against Pittsburgh. He picked up his first NHL points - a trio of assists - in his third game in the League, four nights later against Vancouver.
Earlier in the week, Kuznetsov notched the 400th point of his NHL career; he has 402 points (123 goals, 279 assists) in his 500 NHL games.
Panik was a second-round (52nd overall) choice of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2009 NHL Draft. He made his debut with the Bolts on Feb. 12, 2013 in a home game against Montreal and recorded his first NHL point - a goal - 11 days later at Carolina, victimizing Canes goalie Dan Ellis.
Over the course of his nine-year NHL career with Tampa Bay, Toronto, Chicago, Arizona and Washington, Panik has totaled 190 points (87 goals, 103 assists).
By The Numbers - Carlson led the Caps with 27:38 in ice time. Carlson has led the Caps in ice time in 25 of the team's 31 games this season … Ovechkin led the Caps with six shots on net and Carlson led the way with 14 shot attempts … Nic Dowd led Washington with five hits … Nick Jensen led the Caps with two blocked shots … Dowd won 14 of 20 draws (70 percent).
