Coming into tonight, the Capitals had to be looking for one thing. Revenge. On December 12th, the Rangers took the Capitals to the cleaners in a 7-0 drubbing at Madison Square Garden that included a rare Ovechkin fight (that's how frustrating it was). Not only was the game seen by all watching, but it was also well-documented on HBO's "24/7: Capitals v. Penguins" four-part documentary series.
The game did not disappoint. It moved very fast and was physical from the beginning, and included many early chances for the Capitals, including a powerplay in which the home team could not capitalize on (starting to sound like a broken record). Ovechkin was locked in from the puck drop. He could be seen flying all over the ice and firing his rifle of a shot multiple times. The Caps defense also looked impressive as usual, and went into the first intermission locked at a 0-0 tie.
That did not last long. Less than a minute and a half in, Marcus Johansson delivered a pass from the right point that reached Matt Hendricks' stick on the left side of the goal for a beautiful tap-in. This was Hendricks' second straight game with a goal. This seemed to open the game up for the Capitals' offense, as they got got a few more open chances right after the goal that were stopped by Marty Biron.
The teams continued to trade blows in the third but still neither team could score until Marion Gaborik "pushed" the puck into the net with his arm with six and a half minutes left. Although the goal did go under review, the refs did not change their call of good goal. Even being a Caps fan, I had to agree, because it did not seem like Gaborik intentionally "punched" it in. The final 6 minutes were scoreless, leading to an overtime period after a tough, gritty regulation.
After a scoreless overtime that saw several chances to end the game for the Caps, including a beautiful shot by Marcus Johansson in the high slot that just went wide, came the shootout period. Hendricks and Backstrom both scored for the Caps, but Braden Holtby, after an impressive game, seemed to crumble in the shootout, allowing 3 of 4 Rangers to score fairly easily in the one-on-one opportunity. A classic heart breaker, indeed.
Although the loss was very tough, and the offense seemed to be almost non-existent (at least on the surface), the fact is that there was a lot of good to take from this game. The defense was extremely solid. The only goal that the Rangers scored was a fluke in which the puck bounced in their favor just a few too many times. Braden Holtby, minus the shootout, played a very solid game. He stopped 28 of 29 shots, posting a .966 save percentage, and consistently handled the puck very well.
As a Baltimore Ravens fan, I'm used to these type of defensive struggles that can end on either side of the coin. This time, unfortunately, it landed on the Rangers side. If a few more bounces go the Caps way, were talking about a solid, hard-fought victory. I have confidence that if the defense keeps playing the way they do, the offense will start to fire up, and the Caps will be right back on the road to Lord Stanley.
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