New York Rangers

Rangers beat Caps 6-5 as Mika Zibanejad goes super saiyan

The Washington Capitals played another chippy, sloppy, error-prone game, blowing a winnable game against the New York Rangers and nearly losing control of the Metropolitan Division in the process.

Carl Hagelin kicked off scoring with a goal against his former team. Mika Zibanejad, whose name you will hear a few times here, responded with a power-play goal in the first, then a delayed-penalty goal in the second period. Ilya Kovalchuk’s first goal tied the game, setting off a scoring spurt. Tony Deangelo put the Rangers up after a great pass from Panarin, but Garnet Hathaway scored soon after– deflecting a shot by Michal Kempny on a similar play.

Twelve seconds into the third period, Mika Zibanejad secured a hat trick and gave the Rangers a new lead. Alex Ovechkin tied it up yet again with a lovely wristshot with ten minutes to go. The Caps committed a billion penalties late in the game with the score tied, so Zibanejad got his fourth goal. In the final minute of regulation, Ovechkin found a rebound to tie the game yet again.

Overtime was over in a blink as Zibanejad won it with his fifth goal of the game.

Caps lose in overtime.

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Pings and penalty kill problems: Rangers beat Caps 4-1

Wednesday night, the Washington Capitals brought their walking wounded lineup into action against familiar foes in the New York Rangers. Another rendition of the handsome goalie battle was upon us.

Artemi Panarin opened the scoring early in the second period on a power play and extended the lead on another man advantage in the third. Pavel Buchnevich added a strike in the third as well. Evgeny Kuznetsov got the Caps on the board with a power play strike of his own. Brett Howden had the Rangers’ fourth.

Rangers beat Caps 4-1.

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