February 19, 2017 3:58 pm

The Caps were back at it again Sunday afternoon, visiting the Rangers in New York because scheduling a team for back-to-back games coming out of the bye week is an idea that someone thought should be implemented.

Other than a few chances by the top line, the Caps came out as flat as you might expect them to given the circumstances. The Rangers Ryan McDonough put his team up 1-0 early after the Caps first line and Carlzner decided to leave him all along in the slot. The Caps continued to get outplayed, but thanks to Philipp Grubauer the first period ended at 1-0.

The Caps looked much more competent in the second period and, towards the end of the frame, Alex Ovechkin tied it with a knuckepuck on the PP.

In the third, the Caps third pairing was sleepy on a Rangers set play off a draw and Mats Zuccarello gave the bad guys a 2-1 lead.

Caps lose, 2-1.

The first line were the only guys in white* who came to play in the first. The team was a -11 in 5-on-5 shot attempts during the frame, but that line was a +5.
*Other than Grubauer, who kept the Caps in the game.
The Caps sure did have more legs in the second than the first.

Brett Connolly nailed Zach Sanford in the face with his stick, which was not very nice.
Dmitry Orlov had a very Dmitry Orlov game. He made a few Rangers look silly, he skating was noticeably strong, he created offensive chances, and he made a couple moves with the puck that left me going “OH GOSH, BE CAREFUL!” In the end, he was near the team lead in ice time and possession. Quite the player, that guy.
My thoughts on who played the best today for the visitors: