Rangers Fend Off Caps' Best Effort To Take A 2-0 Series Lead

Jared Silber. Getty Images.

Whew.

I'll give the Caps credit. They came out flying to start and took a 1-0 lead. Oshie in particular tried to muck it up all night long & knock the Blueshirts (Panarin) off their game. Still, for each goal they scored to start the first two periods the infinitely more skilled Rangers came back with a pair. None prettier than a tic-tac-toe shorty finished off by K'Andre Miller to take a 4-2 lead late in the second.

That passing though 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/BPa4Jty3Tn

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) April 24, 2024

Should've been the dagger to be honest…but the Caps kept coming & the Rangers handed them every opportunity in the third. A too many men call cut short a New York powerplay, then Alex Wennberg inexplicably refused to get the puck deep at the offensive blueline before Tom Wilson cut the deficit to a lone goal. With Charlie Lindgren pulled for the final two minutes, the puck hardly left the Rangers d-zone outside of a just-missed ENG that ended up an icing. Still, the good guys were able to hold strong, block shots & keep play to low-danger areas to close out another W.

For the first time in 11 playoff games an opponent was able to beat Shesterkin for more than two - but it didn't matter. Oshie took some liberties with Panarin but the Breadman got the last laugh with a big hit the refs wanted to call so bad but the league reversed. Over the years we've seen the Blueshirts get bullied, but not this iteration. Not just keeping their cool but standing up for themselves. Not only maintaining discipline but letting the Caps know they can't have their milk money anymore. In a chippy game with no flow & some awful officiating both ways resulting in 11 powerplays - everything Washington needs in terms of game script to compete - the Rangers still could not be defeated.

Why?

I dunno how many times I gotta say it but…because the Caps stink. STINK.

VIVA LA BLUESHIRTS!!!