The Washington Capitals are in a 2-0 hole heading back to DC in their first-round series against the New York Rangers after not finding the response to their Game One loss they wanted.
Connor McMichael got the Caps off to an exciting start, putting away his first career NHL postseason goal. The excitement faded fast though as goals from Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad gave New York the lead heading into the first intermission.
Dylan Strome scored his first playoff goal as a member of the Capitals to tie the game early in the second. New York would add two more special teams goals from Jack Roslovic and K’Andre Miller to retake the lead. Tom Wilson got the Caps back within one on a power play.
Rangers beat Capitals 4-3.
- The Capitals came out in the first five minutes like they wanted to prove something and got the first goal of the game that they talked about incessantly pregame. After that hot start which featured six shots before the game was six minutes old, they recorded just one more shot for the remainder of the first frame. Credit to the Rangers for really weathering the storm but you can’t just switch off when you get a lead in the playoffs or what happened is inevitable.
- The Capitals have to make sure their power play isn’t just a momentum trigger for the Rangers. That’s exactly what it was in the first period when they looked like they hadn’t played hockey once in their entire lives. We saw the exact opposite on their opportunity early in the second and then they handed K’Andre Miller a shorthanded goal on a silver platter later in the period. Insert your exasperated sigh here.
- Good to see Connor McMichael put one away for the first time during an NHL postseason. McMichael was sidelined a lot by Peter Laviolette during the latter’s tenure in DC which was both a blessing and a curse for the young forward. The time away from the Capitals gave him invaluable experience with Todd Nelson down in Hershey. Let’s hope there are many more big goals for him to come.
Right place, right time for Mikey for his first career playoff goal pic.twitter.com/Ai2I2TvoM8
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 23, 2024
- The Capitals’ already slim chances in this series evaporate completely if they can’t get their special teams play together. We’ve already gone over the power play issues but the penalty kill felt all out of whack in this game too. They gave up two PPGs and ran around a ton trying to get set.
- Some of the veterans on the Capitals have been tough to watch in these two games. Do we maybe see Mike Sgarbossa and Ivan Miroshnichenko in Game Three? I’d like to see the lines mixed up at the very least.
- A lot of the discussion around this game is going to be about Artemi Panarin’s high hit on TJ Oshie. Oshie was dazed by the hit and immediately left the ice. The “principal point of contact” or whatever jargon the league uses was probably not to Oshie’s head but that doesn’t mean that A LOT of the contact was not to his head. That should be a penalty every single time. No question. TJ did return to the game so that was great to see.
- Lucas Johansen played a game he can be proud of in a very tough spot. Definitely didn’t look like the moment was too big for him.
- I thought Tom Wilson was the Capitals’ best player. Good to see from one of their leaders. Going to need him to do more of the same at home. Get that crowd going.
Stylin' for Game Two in New York #JoeBSuitOfTheNight pic.twitter.com/hbGZxqVa48
— RMNB (@rmnb) April 23, 2024
While a 2-0 hole heading into Game Three is depressing no matter how you shake it out, there’s reason for a smidgen of optimism. Remember that the Capitals won both games at Capital One Arena against the Rangers this season. The team was also down to the 11th defenseman on their depth chart in this game and there’s reason to believe that Rasmus Sandin and Nick Jensen could return.
Let’s hope they can at least make this a rough series overall for New York. No free wins.
