Jack Roslovic and K’Andre Miller scored on special teams 4:26 apart in the second period and the host New York Rangers hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday in Game 2 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
The Rangers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 heading into Game 3 on Friday in Washington. As was the case in New York’s 4-1 win on Sunday, the Rangers took control in the second period, but this time they had to survive a shaky final 10 minutes.
With eight seconds left on a cross-checking penalty to Washington defenseman John Carlson, Roslovic snapped a 2-2 tie with 7:34 remaining in the middle frame.
Roslovic cut to the left faceoff circle and got a pass from defenseman Erik Gustafsson. Roslovic finished off the play by lifting a hard snap shot over Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren as the puck clanged off the crossbar and in.
While the Rangers were killing off a delay-of-game penalty on Gustafsson, New York’s Chris Kreider stole the puck from Alex Ovechkin near the neutral zone and passed to Mika Zibanejad. Miller jumped into the rush in between the circles and one-timed Zibanejad’s pass over Lindgren.
With 8:15 remaining in the third period, Tom Wilson deflected a shot by Hendrix Lapierre to get Washington within 4-3.
“They’re obviously pushing to get back in the series,” Roslovic said of the Capitals. “So you know that’s dangerous, their mindset as well. So we got to stay humble and keep on building and getting better.”
New York’s Vincent Trocheck and Zibanejad netted goals in the first period. Alexis Lafreniere and Gustafsson collected two assists apiece.
Wilson finished with a goal and an assist while Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome also scored for the Capitals.
“I thought we battled, we worked hard,” Strome said. “It’s disappointing to lose that way on a short-handed goal, but those are bounces that sometimes don’t go your way.”
New York goalie Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves, including a stop on Martin Fehervary shortly after Washington tied the game in the second.
Lindgren allowed four goals on 27 shots.
“Overall, much better than the first game,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “We did a ton of really, really good things. So that’s the positive.”
Washington opened the scoring 5:09 into the game after New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren fumbled the puck in the slot trying to pry it from T.J. Oshie. McMichael gained possession and lifted the puck over Shesterkin for his first career postseason goal.
Nearly three minutes later, the Rangers converted a faceoff win by Trocheck into the game-tying goal. After winning the offensive zone faceoff from Lapierre, Trocheck cut to the crease and easily redirected Gustafsson’s pass from near the blue line over Charlie Lindgren.
The Rangers took the lead with 5:32 left in the first after Lafreniere dug the puck out from along the left boards. Trocheck gained possession and spotted a wide-open Zibanejad in the right circle, and New York scored when Zibanejad’s shot banked off the leg of Washington defenseman Alexander Alexeyev.
Strome tied the game on a power play 4:14 into the second. He tapped the puck in the crease past a sprawled-out Shesterkin after getting a feed from Wilson.
“I thought our guys responded pretty well. It was a hard-fought game,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “I think that’s good inside of a series, inside of (what) we hope is an opportunity to move on. You want to make sure that you’re building the right type of game and getting involved in that type of a setting.”
–Field Level Media
