Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist to lead the New York Rangers to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.
Zibanejad scored the first of three special teams goals for the Rangers, who took a 2-0 lead in this series. The latter is now moving to Washington, where the third duel will take place Friday evening.
Vincent Trocheck also collected a goal and an assist for the New York team, which won the Presidents’ Trophy this season. Jack Roslovic and K’Andre Miller also scored in the victory.
Erik Gustafsson and Alexis Lafrenière both finished the game with two assists. Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves, but saw his streak of ten home games without allowing more than two goals come to an end.
Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who were the last team in the regular season to confirm their spot in the playoffs. Dylan Strome and Connor McMichael, with a first career playoff goal, also found the back of the net.
Charlie Lindgren gave up four times in 27 shots for Spencer Carbery’s men.
The Rangers are looking to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1994, while the Capitals lifted it for the only time in their history in 2018.
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The Capitals started the game with confidence and quickly tested Shesterkin, who made a few good saves. The Russian, however, was the first goalkeeper to give in, at 5:09.
After recovering the puck in opposing territory, TJ Oshie headed towards the slot. He tried unsuccessfully to beat Ryan Lindgren, but the Rangers defenseman left the disc on the blade of McMichael’s stick, who just had to push it into a free cage.
This goal seemed to whip the New Yorkers, who suddenly increased the pace. They tied the score less than three minutes later, when Erik Gustafsson maneuvered well at the blue line before allowing Trocheck to deflect his pass.
The Rangers took the lead on a power play with 5:32 left in the first period. After good work from Lafrenière along the boards, Trocheck passed the puck to Zibanejad, who saw his shot hit defender Alexander Alexeyev before beating Charlie Lindgren.
Special teams dictated the story of the second period, as all three goals were scored during a penalty.
First, Strome only had to redirect a pass from Wilson to bring the two teams back to square one, during a power play. The reply came in the same way, when Roslovic drew quickly to deceive Lindgren’s vigilance in the top corner.
The visitors had a chance to tie the game again when Gustafsson was chased for knocking the puck into the stands, but it was the Rangers who took advantage. Alex Ovechkin lost the puck in the neutral zone and Zibanejad launched the counterattack with Chris Kreider. It was ultimately Miller who put the finishing touches.
When they got another power play, in the final period, the Capitals this time made the red light shine. Posted at the blue line, Hendrix Lapierre fired a wrist shot that Wilson skillfully deflected behind Shesterkin.
The Capitals pulled their goaltender and applied a lot of pressure in the final moments of the game, but the Rangers defense held on.