Washington Capitals cruise to 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers
The surging Washington Capitals are one of the teams to watch in the National Hockey League’s Western Conference these days, and they showed it again as the Caps handed the New York Rangers
a 5-3 loss.
How it happened
Brian Boyle got the Rangers off to a decent start in this game, scoring his sixth goal of the season at 4:02 of the first period. Brooks Laich then scored a power play goal at 8:52 to
tie the game at one goal apiece. The home team then got a power play of their own at 12:56 which was scored by Boyle on a wrist shot that beat Michal Neuvirth of the Capitals.
The second period began with John Erskine’s first goal of the season at 2:34 on a wrist shot that found its way past Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Derek Boogaard, the Bluershirts’
enforcer, scored his first of the season at 3:15 to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead. The lead was short-lived, as Mike Knuble’s wrist shot tied the game at three.
Washington took complete control of the game in the third period, with Matt Hendricks extending the visitors’ lead at 7:53. Laich rounded out the scoring by scoring an empty-netter with
only six seconds remaining in the game, giving the Caps a 5-3 victory.
What they’re saying
Despite falling behind at several points during the game, Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau always felt that his team still had a legitimate chance to win the game.
“I never thought that we were behind. We were behind, but I thought we played pretty good in the first period,” Boudreau said after the game.
“We got a bad break on the second goal after killing off a 5-on-3 pretty well. Sometimes in a game, you feel like you’re always in it. Sometimes a team is beating you 2-1 or 1-0, and you
think there’s no way we’re going to come back. But there was a good vibe on the bench tonight, so it was good.”
Laich was quick to give credit to team-mate Alex Semin for setting up his power play tally in the opening period.
“Any donkey can go to the front of the net and stand there with his stick on the ice,” Laich said. “Having those guys make you look pretty good.”
The Capitals and Rangers will both return to the ice on Thursday, 11 November. Washington will face the Tampa Bay Lightning, while the Rangers will do battle with the Buffalo Sabres.
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