The Rangers completed a sweep of the Washington Capitals with a 4-2 victory in Game 4 of their first-round series Sunday night at Capital One Arena.
Kaapo Kakko, Vincent Trocheck And Artemi Panarin scored briefly for the Blueshirts Jack Roslovic added an empty-net power-play goal with 51 seconds left.
The Rangers advance to a second round matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the winner of the series between the Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes.
Igor Shesterkin was again great in goal and made 21 saves. He allowed just seven goals in the series.
The Rangers have now defeated the Caps each of the past four times they have met in the playoffs.
Here are the key takeaways:
-Special teams were a big part of the game, as they have been throughout the series. The Rangers scored three power-play goals, including Panarin’s third-period tiebreaker. Overall, the Rangers went 6-for-16 (37.5%) with a man advantage in the series, while their penalty-kill unit continually frustrated the Caps. The Rangers killed two penalties on Sunday night and went 15-for-17 (88.2%) in the series.
– Alex Ovechkin led the Caps with 31 goals during the regular season and he is one of the greatest scorers in NHL history, trailing by just one Wayne Gretzky on the all-time goals list. But the Rangers did not allow him to play a role in the series. Ovechkin was scoreless in four games.
– The Rangers scored just 57 seconds into the game, thanks in large part to a poor giveaway from Caps defense Nick Jensen, who made his first appearance in the series. Under pressure of Will Cuylle‘s cross, Jensen’s turnover put the puck on Kakko’s stick in the slot. He shot past the Washington goalkeeper Charlie Lindgren for an unassisted goal. Kakko was the tenth Ranger to score a goal in the series, demonstrating the Blueshirts’ remarkable depth. It was also the fourth playoff goal of Kakko’s career.
– The first period, especially early on, was played at a frantic pace, with both teams creating chances and rushing from start to finish. It was a great play and the Caps had a few early chances, but Shesterkin turned them away. Mika Zibanejad botched into a turnover that yielded Dylan Strome the puck in the middle about 20 seconds after Kakko’s goal, but Shesterkin got his glove on it. About ten minutes later, Shesterkin stopped Tom Wilson in front, point-blank and sprawling to get into position to save a rebound chance, but Wilson’s effort hit the side of the net.
— The Caps — who seemed to want to play defensive, low-scoring hockey in the three previous games of the series — were much more open Sunday night. It paid off with 5:06 left in the first period, when the Rangers struggled to clear the puck and Aliaksei Protas found it Martin Fehervary only on Shesterkin’s right and Fehervary scored his second goal of the series, bringing the score to 1.
– But the Rangers responded, as they have all season, even though they had to get through a scary moment first. Adam Fox went down in pain after he and Jensen locked horns with 1:09 left in the first. Fox favored his right leg, but he did not skate off the ice, instead trying to skate off the injury before going to the bench. Eventually he sat down and Jensen was given a two-minute penalty for tripping. Fox returned to the ice about 45 seconds after the man advantage.
– The Rangers took a 2-1 lead later on the power play and scored with 14.7 seconds left in the period. Trocheck finished the game by scoring from the front after some nice passes, including the primary feed from Zibanejad, who was standing next to the net. It was Trocheck’s third goal of the series. Panarin also got an assist during the game.
– Then things got weird/violent. The Caps apparently weren’t happy with Fox going down after being hit, and Wilson, who had been yapping at Fox, grabbed the Ranger defender as Fox went to celebrate the goal. Fox’s helmet fell off as a scrum blossomed. Wilson was the only player penalized – he got two minutes for rough conduct – so the Rangers were immediately back on the power play, even though they couldn’t make any money.
– Washington dominated the second period and large parts of it were played at the end of the Rangers. Through the first twelve minutes of the period, the Rangers had just one shot on goal, although they shot seven during that period. The Caps scored the tying goal with 12:12 left in the period on a nifty play Henry Lapierrewho skated around Ryan Lindgren and fired a shot at Shesterkin, who stopped it. But the goalkeeper couldn’t follow the rebound and Lapierre did, scoring his first career playoff goal. It could have been worse: the Rangers killed a penalty earlier in the period, but Washington might have scored without great defensive play from Trocheck and Jimmy Vesey.
Who is the MVP?
Panarin, who scored the goal early in the third period that secured a 2-2 tie, and also had an assist. The goal was the 18th of his playoff career.
Highlights
What’s next
The Rangers will play the Hurricanes or Islanders in the second round. The Hurricanes lead 3-1 over the Islanders entering Game 5 in Carolina on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
