Photo: @andreburakovsky
Last night before the Capitals took on the New York Rangers, Caps Swedes Marcus Johansson and Andre Burakovsky tried to get loose by throwing around a football in the bowels of Madison Square Garden. Johansson showed off a tight spiral.
Then Burakovsky threw.
Photo: Jared Silber
On Friday night, after allowing goals on back-to-back shots, Braden Holtby was pulled in favor of backup netminder Philipp Grubauer with the Capitals down 3-0. Those goals, however, were not the result of Holtby’s poor play. Instead, the Capitals’ defense was at fault, which head coach Barry Trotz acknowledged after the game.
“I was tired of our team leaving him out to dry,” Trotz said.
The change jumpstarted the Capitals. The team went on to score five unanswered goals, easing the three-goal deficit left by Holtby and earning a victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Grubauer was perfect in relief, making a key save right before TJ Oshie scored to narrow the gap to one.
On Sunday night, Holtby once again allowed goals on back-to-back shots as the Rangers took 3-1 lead into the first intermission. Nevertheless, Holtby was back out to start the second period. This time, however, Trotz did place blame on Holtby.
By Chris Gordon 7 years ago
Photo: Bruce Bennett
The Capitals extended their lead atop the Metropolitan Division to 8 points by crushing the New York Rangers 7-3 at Madison Square Gardens on Sunday night. Justin Williams opened the scoring for the Caps. fter the Rangers ended the first period leading 3-1, the Caps went on to score six unanswered goals in the second and third periods. The Caps’ winning streak now stands at five games.
Let’s get to the goals!
By Hana Imiolczyk 7 years ago
Nothing is forbidden anymore. The Washington Capitals can seemingly surrender a two-spot to any team in the league just so they can have fun with the comeback effort. That’s precisely what we got in the home den of the New York Rangers on Sunday: a disheartening start, a soaring comeback, and lots and lots of fun hockey.
Taylor Chorney was the setup man in a lovely sequence finished off by Justin Williams for the game’s opening goal. Then it was all Rangers. JT Miller tied the game with a solo drive and a tricky release, then Chris Kreider got the lead by converting a broken play, then Dan Boyle converted a power play before the first period was up.
In the second period, the Caps clawed their way back in with a Russian team-up, Dmitry Orlov to Evgeny Kuznetsov, to make it 3-2, and then TJ Oshie crashed the net to tie the game again. An Ovi Shot from the Ovi Spot gave the Caps the lead, which Justin Williams doubled with a power-play gutshot from the slot late int he period.
Jason Chimera scored a shorthanded goal on relief goalie Magnus Hellberg. No, seriously. Evgeny Kuznetsov forechecked superbly to set up Marcus Johansson for the game’s seventh goal. SEVENTH. GOAL.
Caps beat Rangers 7-3! Hahahahaha))))
By Peter Hassett 7 years ago
New York Rangers pest supreme Tanner Glass learned a valuable lesson against the Washington Capitals on Sunday: don’t touch Braden Holtby.
Late in the second period as he froze the puck, Holtby shoved Rangers winger Mats Zuccarello out of the crease. Glass responded by shoving Holtby in the shoulder.
NUH UH.
Famous skiffle musician Paul McCartney is at Madison Square Garden for the Caps/Rangers game tonight. Known for his work with the “rock” band Wings and his duet “Say Say Say” with Michael Jackson, McCartney was spotted in the stands during the first period holding a puck he had snatched from the game.
Happy holidays, Caps people. The Capitals are in New York today to beat the Rangers on Madison Square Garden ice. Our own Pat Holden will be in attendance. Last time an RMNB human was at MSG, this happened. Today must go better, but the Caps are gonna have to right their 5v5 ship for that to happen.
Enjoy both of the hours of sunlight you’ll have before puck drop at 7 PM. Tune into CSN with us, won’t you?
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
| Washington Capitals | 23-6-2 | 51.4% | 101.6 | 25.0% | 84.1% |
| New York Rangers | 19-11-0 | 47.3% | 103.0 | 21.7% | 83.0% |
By Peter Hassett 7 years ago
Photo: Jared Silber
The Capitals don’t lose very much — they’ve fallen in regulation just six times this season. One of those losses, a 5-2 defeat, came November 3 at Madison Square Garden to the New York Rangers, a division rival. Though the Capitals outshot New York 34-22, some players weren’t happy with the way they played, as Washington was doomed by odd-man breaks against.
“I thought that was one of our worst games of the year,” Capitals goalie Braden Holtby, who took the loss in the game, said Saturday. “We let their strengths overpower ours in that game. They got a lot of off the rush chances, which is what they thrive on.”
By Chris Gordon 7 years ago
