Matt Hendricks celebrates his shoot-out goal. (Photo credit: Mitchell Layton)
Last time the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers met, well… it was bad. But we had higher hopes for tonight and a rejuvenated Caps offense. Aside from Matt Hendricks and the superb Braden Holtby, we got disappointed big time.
Matt Hendricks found the perfect spot to receive a surgical pass from Marcus Johansson and turn it into a goal. Then, late in the third, Marian Gaborik scored a greasy goal following a series of puck bounces and deflections that only the Large Hadron Collider could map. And so we headed into overtime, which has been famously unkind to the Caps lately. The five-minute, four-on-four period was exciting but scoreless, and so the gimmick beckoned. The Capitals lasted until the fourth round, when Martin Biron rebuffed Marcus Johansson and Artem Anisimov beat Braden Holtby with alacrity. A lazy loss. Rangers beat Caps 2-1 (SO).
So there you have it. The Caps had the lead and let it go. Because they let up the pressure, Gaborik’s nasty but inevitable goal was able to catch the Rangers up. This loss was unbefitting of the work that Matt Hendricks and Braden Holtby put in, but this is the way the season (and postseason) will continue to go until the team enacts its top-secret protocol, OPERATION: SCOAR MOAR GOALS.
Check you on Wednesday. Date with the Thrashers.
Additional reporting by Neil Greenberg, who is in Ohio or something and followed the game via smoke signals.
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