We said this series was going to be a defensive battle right from the get-go, and Game 1 between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals this afternoon was a testament to that hypothesis. Neither team created much and neither team gave up much, but it was a third period surge by the Rangers, led by rookie Chris Kreider, that made the difference in the opening tilt of what promises to be a close series. Despite coming off of a Game 7 win just two days ago, the Rangers came out and accomplished their goal at Madison Square Garden, to again set the tone for this best of seven.
The Rangers proved early on that the quick turnaround after Thursday's Game 7 was in fact beneficiary, as they dominated the Capitals inside and out in the first half of the opening period. They pinned Washington in their own zone and grinded to maintain puck possession for extended periods of time. This limited the time and opportunity the Caps had to generate any offense down the other end, so Dale Hunter's squad only registered a single shot on goal through the first eight minutes of play. The start couldn't have been any better for New York, except for the fact that they were not able to get a puck past rookie Braden Holtby.
Washington would get their chances in the first period, too, although they did not come until the Blueshirts got themselves into some penalty trouble. A so-so call on Marc Staal at 12:16 of the first gave the Capitals their second powerplay of the game in which they threw four shots towards Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist matched all four, in addition to the two that came at even strength, so scoreless the two teams would go to the locker rooms.
The tight defensive play would continue in the second period on both sides of the rink, but a pivotal moment came seven minutes in when the Rangers faced a 5-on-3 penalty-kill. Rigorous work by the Rangers down two men prevented the Caps from getting too many pucks on goal, and it also swayed all momentum their way with the crowd entirely in the game at the time. Ruslan Fedotenko led the charge on the kill, blocking three shots and making a diving play to break up a pass, and this is why head coach John Tortorella has so much trust in 26 come playoff time.
With the momentum on their side, the Rangers responded with consecutive forechecking shifts to eventually break the scoreless tie on what originally seemed like a harmless play. Artem Anisimov had the puck behind the net, where most of the Rangers' offense was generated in this game, and he outmuscled Mike Green to sweep the puck in front, up the stick of Braden Holtby and into the back of the net. These dirty goals will be required in a defensive series such as this one, so Artie made a great decision just to get that puck in front.
New York's lead was short-lived, however, as the Capitals would tie the game with less than four seconds left in the second period. A 3-on-2 rush for Washington ended with Brooks Laich making a perfect saucer pass to Jason Chimera for a redirection that went through the legs of a sliding Lundqvist. While the pass to Chimera was flawless and Lundqvist had zero chance to make the save, there is some blame to put on Dan Girardi here for losing the foot race against Chimera. Chimera was left all alone in front, so it was almost a guarantee that the Caps had tied the game once the pass made it across the slot to his stick.
The shot totals were still very low in the third period and the Rangers didn't help the cause by wasting an early powerplay opportunity. But it was not long before this game became the Chris Kreider show, because the rookie certainly stole the spotlight in the final twenty minutes. First, seven minutes into the third, Kreider received a magnificent pass from Derek Stepan in the neutral zone, which he stormed down ice with and ripped past Holtby with a wicked slap shot. Kreider's speed on that play left the Capitals with no chance of defending him, so it was basically Holtby and he, one-on-one.
Then, just 90 seconds later, Kreider made a great play along the boards in the offensive zone to not only steal the puck, but also lift it out to the slot where Brad Richards was by himself unattended to. Richards walked right in and put the puck five-hole to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead that they managed to maintain until the final buzzer.
Kreider's efforts in back-to-back shifts during that 1:30 span basically won the Rangers the game this afternoon, and remember, this was only his sixth NHL outing. The first star recognition and the "Krei-der" chants from the MSG faithful were well deserved for a player who is most certainly destined for stardom.
And in a series such as this one, it's going to take heroic efforts from certain players to break the ice in such closely contested games. In three periods, the Rangers had just 14 shots on goal and the Capitals had just 18. Both teams played tremendous defensively today, and a big part of that was shot-blocking and limiting what reached their respective goaltenders. It's going to come down to the big plays when your team has the momentum, and Kreider made two of them in this game.
For some reason the NBC broadcast continued to rag on the Rangers for only having 14 shots, but if they would have looked on the other side of the scoreboard, Washington only had 18 of their own. Look, any shot total under twenty is not ideal, but if you can keep your opponent to under 20 as well, then I don't see the problem. Considering the Rangers just played a Game 7 on Tursday and then had to come out here and lace them up for an afternoon matinee, I have no problem with their effort whatsoever.
As I said, the defense was spectacular today, and Ryan McDonagh was again a highlight player in that respect. Alex Ovechkin was held to just one shot on goal all afternoon, and that one shot was a weak wrister from outside that Lundqvist had no issue gobbling up. This means McDonagh, along with partner Dan Girardi, did his job and fulfilled the request of the coaches.
I thought the forwards helped out a lot on defense today as well, including the top two lines who were effective in both ends. I even noticed Marian Gaborik making some smart plays in the defensive zone today, which is an upgrade from what we saw last series from him. I thought Gabby was also hungrier offensively, crashing the net often and actually getting his hands dirty. He still was credited with only one shot (I believe that should be two, though), but he's making steps in the right direction.
All in all, today's 3-1 win in front of the home crowd in Game 1 was exactly what the doctor ordered. Some were worried about the Rangers having to jump right into round two after just finishing up the first less than 48 hours ago, but it proved not to be an issue. They got the win to go up 1-0 in the series and will now have the opportunity to go up 2-0 on home ice on Monday night.
You couldn't have asked for a better start to the series for the Rangers.
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