Washington Capitals blank New York Rangers, 2-0: NHL Recap
The 23-year-old goalie Michal Neuvirth turned away 22 shots for his first play-off shutout as the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 2-0, in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final series on Friday night.
Rookie Michal Neuvirth, who recorded four shutouts in the regular season, has saved 46 of 47 shots so far in the series.
Jason Chimera and Jason Arnott each tallied a goal in a span of two minutes in the middle frame and sealed the victory for the Capitals.
The Capitals' Head Coach, Bruce Boudreau, was pleased with his side's performance. He said after the game, "These guys just want to win and they've said it all year. We've had a bunch of guys win individual awards, but that means nothing to them now. It's the success of what could happen is what they want."
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 16-of-18 shots for the Rangers, who won three of four games against Washington in the regular season.
"I thought for most of the game we played much better than the other night," said New York's Head Coach, John Tortorella. "But we got hurt by that surge from them and good teams do that."
Both teams could not score in the opening frame. Neuvirth was solid between the pipes, turning aside 13 shots for the Capitals while Lundqvist saved seven shots for the Rangers. The Capitals dominated the game in the second period.
Chimera put the Capitals on the board in the third minute of the middle stanza. The goal came when Brooks Laich grabbed the puck behind the net and managed to slide it to the left circle. From there Marcus Johansson instantly made the feed to Chimera who was unchecked in front of the net and he unleashed a wrist-shot past the Rangers' net-minder to make it 1-0.
Lundqvist gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead on the power-play in the fifth minute of the second stanza. The goal occurred when Matt Green fired a slap shot from the right circle that was blocked by the Rangers' goalie, Lundqvist, and the puck kicked over to the left circle, where Arnott controlled the puck and wristed a shot that dodged Lundqvist.
Neuvirth had to turn aside just three shots in the middle period to keep the Capitals ahead. His best stop of the night came with less than nine minutes remaining in the second period when he made a sprawling pad save on Marian Gaborik’s wrist-shot.
Lundqvist kept the Rangers in the game when he denied Alex Ovechkin on a clean breakaway with less than eight minutes left in the third.
However, the Rangers did not get a shot on goal the rest of the game even when they benched Lundqvist for an extra-skater and the Capital seeped out of the building with a strong series edge.
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