The New York Rangers have announced that second-pairing defenseman Kevin Klein will miss the next three or four weeks due to an upper-body injury.
Klein was injured late in the third period on Wednesday after blocking what seemed to be an innocent wrist shot from… Alex Ovechkin. No, those kinds of shots are never innocent.
Photo: @katiejudd11
The Capitals mustered a strong comeback attempt in the third period, but they still lost to the New York Rangers. After a few solid shifts of Caps pressure, Martin St. Louis scored to put the Rags up 3-1 in the final minutes.
John Carlson had thrown a cross-ice pass to hit Nate Schimdt, but instead the puck was intercepted by Chris Kreider. A breakaway ensued.
Freaking Ovi. Freaking Beagle.
The Capitals hadn’t played since Saturday; the Rangers played last night. And yet it was the Capitals– beset by injury– who looked slow and overwhelmed on Wednesday night. Down a goal, the Capitals made a big comeback effort in the third, but it got defused by the tiny guy in blue, so Washington lost to the new division leader.
In the first period, Nate Schmidt choked up the puck in neutral, opening up a shooting gallery that ended with Carl Hagelin’s goal. Ovi tied it up with an Ovi shot from the Ovi slot, but J.T. Miller put the Rags back up after a weird bounce on a clearing attempt. The Caps picked up the pace in the third but couldn’t crack Cam Talbot. Martin St. Louis delivered the dagger.
Rangers beat Caps 3-1.
By Peter Hassett 8 years ago
Alex Ovechkin is nearly impossible to stop on the power play– even if you know a shot his coming. He’s even more difficult to stop when one of your teammates deflects his shot and makes it go in the opposite direction.
That’s what happened during the Caps’ first-period power play against the Rangers. Evgeny Kuznetsov found Ovechkin near the right circle. Ovechkin shot, and then suicide-diving Jesper Fast deflected the puck past Cam Talbot.
Photo: Alex Brandon / Associated Press
It’s “Rivalry Night”, kiddos, and there’s nearly no better rivalry in the NHL right now than the Capitals and the Rangers.
Last time around– can you believe we’ve only played them once this season? — didn’t go so hot. We were fumbling and they were ascending. Things have turned around a bit, but tonight’s match is really just the beginning of the end of regular season play. We’ve only got three chances to nail these guys, and chance one starts tonight.
Both teams are coming off wins, but very different ones at that. The Sabres’ face-plant against the Caps was hardly a meaningful test, unlike Tuesday’s Rangers’ win over the Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders. Add in the Pens, and you’ve got a fairly tight bunch at the top between those four teams.
Every Rangers post must include a shot of Lundqvist. It’s the law.
We’re both playing well, although the Caps have been getting a might sloppy of late, and both squads are in relatively decent condition, considering how deep we are into the season. On the Rangers side, handsome ol’ Henrik Lundqvist is still out, healing his pretty, pretty face, but so, too, might be Mike Green and Brooks Orpik, who are two D-men we do not want to lose.
Less meaningful, but more irritating, will be the likely flood of Rags fans who will pollute Verizon tonight. Some things are simply, self-evidently, inescapable. Death and taxes. Daylight Savings Time is stupid. And right up there, Rangers fans are just awful.
We reached out to the decidedly non-awful Neill Fowler — writer, owner, operator and bottle-washer at New York Rangers Blog — for some insight about the Rangers, and the second of what we expect will be several more meetings before this whole thing is through. He was good enough to share his thoughts after a tense, but ultimately successful, evening for the Rangers last night.
By Doug Johnson 8 years ago
Photo by Alex Prewitt
The Rangers come to town fresh off a 2-1 win over the Islanders last night. The Rangers are one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They currently sit second in the Metro, one point behind the Islanders and seven points ahead of the fourth place Caps. If the Caps hope to go far this Spring, they’ll likely have to go through the Blueshirts. Expect a playoff-like atmosphere at Verizon Center tonight.
Puck drop is at 8pm on NBCSN.
By Patrick Holden 8 years ago
