Smarting from a 4-0 loss in Washington earlier this month, the New York Rangers scored five unanswered goals against the Caps on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, rolling to a 5-1 victory over Washington. Rangers’ defenseman K’Andre Miller started and led the offensive charge, scoring New York’s first goal and adding another in the third period, and finishing with a three-point night.
Four different New York defensemen combined for three goals and six points in the Rangers’ victory.
“I thought our start was really good,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “We knew they would push, given the way the last game went in our building and I thought we weathered that, put ourselves in a good position, and grabbed the lead. And then those [first two Rangers] goals sequentially, now all of a sudden with the power play one – [Artemi] Panarin makes a heck of a play – just puts us in a hole, and we struggle to score to score at 5-on-5.”
Following a scoreless first frame, the Caps jumped out to a 1-0 lead courtesy of their hottest stick, that of Anthony Mantha. From behind his own net, Caps’ defenseman Rasmus Sandin sent Mantha into New York ice on the left wing side, on a 2-on-1 rush with Alex Ovechkin riding shotgun. Mantha called his own number, and from the left dot he fired a shot to the far right corner of the cage for a 1-0 Washington lead at 4:12 of the middle period.
New York responded less than three minutes later, striking for the first of three second-period goals in just under six minutes. Miller shoveled home a backhander that beat Caps’ netminder Darcy Kuemper on the stick side at 7:03.
The Miller goal was scored just after the Caps finished killing off New York’s second power play of the game. Washington went to its second power play less than two minutes after the Miller goal, but that man advantage was abbreviated by an Ivan Miroshnichenko tripping call in the offensive zone, setting up some 4-on-4 hockey, and followed by another Rangers man advantage.
Washington was seconds away from killing that one off when Panarin took a feed from Vincent Trocheck and tucked a shot high into the short side corner of the cage, putting the Rangers in the lead for the first time at 12:06.
New York netted its third goal of the frame just 40 seconds later when blueliner Braden Schneider scored on a wrist shot from the high slot as the late man into the offensive zone, stretching the Rangers’ lead to 3-1 at 12:56.
“I think it’s a momentum-driven building,” says Caps’ winger Tom Wilson. “You need to manage the big parts of the game. We came out and we were kind of taking it to them; the game looked pretty good from our end. And then we get a big goal, they get one, and then those next few minutes are big. When their building wakes up and they get to feeling good about their game, it’s a tough team to chase from behind.”
The Rangers’ three-goal middle frame outburst marked the first time in 10 games that Washington had been nicked for more two goals in a period.
New York didn’t let up in the third. Miller notched his second goal of the game at 6:54, putting a shot through a screen and under the bar to make it 4-1. At 11:15, Alexis Lafreniere converted a fine feed from Adam Fox to account for the Rangers’ fifth unanswered goal, and the 5-1 final.
Wednesday’s game was the seventh straight contest in which the Caps weren’t able to score more than three goals in a game. They’ve netted just eight goals at 5-on-5 in their last seven games, managing a 3-2-2 record over that span thanks largely to some strong goaltending, a few timely power-play tallies and some staunch penalty killing. But their lack of a consistently effective attack continues to plague them.
Mantha has four goals in the last three games, including all three of Washington’s 5-on-5 goals over that span.
“Once again, other than Anthony Mantha and that line, we just don’t score at 5-on-5,” says Carbery. “It makes it really challenging when you’re held to one or two goals every night, similar tonight. We did some really good things early in that game, and then put ourselves behind the eight ball. But for our group, it’s really, really challenging when we get down in games.”
Wednesday’s loss halted Washington’s points streak at four (3-0-1). The Caps conclude their trip to the New York metropolitan region on Friday when they face the Islanders at UBS Arena.
