Capitals fall to Rangers, to face Panthers in first round of playoffs

NEW YORK --The Washington Capitals lost their fourth straight game, 3-2 to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Friday, and will face the Florida Panthers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday.

The Capitals (44-26-12), who ended the regular season with three straight losses in regulation, including 5-1 at the New York Islanders on Thursday, are the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Panthers (58-18-6) won the Presidents' Trophy for the best record in the NHL.
Washington was 1-1-1 against Florida this season. The teams haven't played since Nov. 30, when the Panthers came back from trailing 4-1 in the third period to win 5-4.
"I'm confident because I know how good we can be when we're on our game," Capitals forward Lars Eller said. "I think the last three games we just haven't really been emotionally invested in the game, like we're there but we're not really there. … I don't recognize us out there. Now we get a reset and we have games that really matter. I know what we're capable of doing, so that gives me confidence."
The Rangers (52-24-6) finished second in the Metropolitan Division and will have home-ice advantage against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round beginning on Tuesday. Pittsburgh defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 on Friday and finished third in the division, three points ahead of Washington.

The Rangers were 3-1-0 against the Penguins this season, with the three wins coming from March 25-April 7 by a combined score of 11-3.
"We played three real good games, but as far as I'm concerned that's not in the picture," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "Just because we beat them the last three games that means nothing to me. We've got to get ready to play a real good team, and it should be a good series."
The Capitals played without Alex Ovechkin for the third straight game. The left wing, who finished with 50 goals this season, has been out with an upper-body injury.
Ovechkin skated Friday morning, and Washington coach Peter Laviolette said prior to the game that he's making progress, but Laviolette wouldn't handicap his odds of playing Game 1 against the Panthers next week.
"He had a good day this morning," Laviolette said. "Hopefully it keeps going in the right direction."

Dryden Hunt, Filip Chytil and Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers, who ended a three-game losing streak. Kaapo Kakko and Braden Schneider each had two assists, and Alexandar Georgiev made 34 saves.
"I'm glad we finished on a strong note because we deserved that," Gallant said. "We had a good year. The team played really well and to get 110 points is an accomplishment, and they should be proud of that."
John Carlson and Justin Schultz scored, and Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves for the Capitals.
"We're going to have to reach back and do more," Carlson said. "Whatever it is leading up to the playoffs, you want to get into as good a position as you can, you want to feel good about your game individually and as a team. I think over the last month or so we've played some of our best hockey all year. With that said I think we're a confident group. We know what we have in there and what we're capable of, and now it's go time."
Hunt gave New York a 3-2 lead at 6:44 of the third period. He got the puck in the right face-off circle from Kakko, made a move around Samsonov's outstretched left leg and tucked it inside the right post.
"Kaapo just made a great play and I kind of ran out of room, and then I got lucky that there was that little opening," Hunt said. "I'll take that."
Chytil gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 3:26 of the second period.

Schultz scored 35 seconds later to make it 1-1 at 4:01. Carlson scored on the power play to give Washington a 2-1 lead at 5:13.
Lafreniere tied it 2-2 at 15:44 of the second, scoring his 19th goal of the season on a 2-on-1 give-and-go with Ryan Strome.
"I would have loved to see him get his 20th goal tonight, but he scored one and he finished really strong and played with some confidence," Gallant said. "That's really good for us and for him also."
NOTES: Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom was a healthy scratch for maintenance reasons, Laviolette said. … The Rangers tied for the second most wins in their history (52-24-8 in 1993-94). They were 53-22-7 in 2014-15. … Lafreniere had a point in four of the last five games (two goals, two assists). … Rangers forwards Artemi Panarin (upper body) and Andrew Copp (lower body) each missed a second straight game. They're expected to be ready to play Game 1 against the Penguins.