Washington Capitals down New York Rangers forcing Game 7 -NHL Playoffs Update
Washington Capitals shocked the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Playoff Semi-Final series by forcing a Game 7 competition after a 2-1 win on Wednesday, May 9, 2012, at the sold-out Verizon
Center in Washington, DC.
Capitals’ rookie goalie, Braden Holtby, kept his streak of not losing back-to-back matchups as he blocked 30 shots on his net by the rowdy New York team, keeping Washington alive to see another day.
"You can look at him -- he's a calm dude over here, man," forward, Joel Ward, said, about Holtby. "Nothing fazes him. He's been like that since the Boston series, which is really impressive to go into that hostile environment with the defending champs. He's
been unbelievable. You can tell in morning skates and in warmups he's just focused."
According to Washington head coach, Dale Hunter, they did not talk or anything about his performance following the Game 5 loss in New York and knew that he would automatically come back up again.
"That's the one thing I've learned that does help me out," Holtby said. "It's a bunch of little things. It's just our group as well. It's not all just me when we bounce back from a loss."
Washington’s captain, Alex Ovechkin, kicked off the scoring with his fifth of the postseason on a power play opportunity as Anton Stralman of New York was booked for tripping in the opening minute.
Capitals fans had to hold their breath twice in the opening period alone as Washington gave two straight penalties with Brooks Laich and Roman Hamrlik being booked nearly five minutes apart and giving New York a number of crucial chances to tie it up.
Luckily, the home advantage gave Washington the confidence to keep blocking shots while Jason Chimera potted the game-winner at 10:59 of the second and Marian Gaborik was the only one to score for New York at 19:09 in the third.
Killing five penalties worked magic for Washington and New York failed to capitalise on any single one.
Game 7 of the Washington-New York series is scheduled for Saturday, May 12, at the Madison Square Garden.
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