Ward’s buzzer beater Caps off dramatic Game 1
CAPITALS 2, RANGERS 1
(Washington leads best-of-7 series 1-0)
They knew he was dangerous. The day before, when Alex Ovechkin was announced as a Hart Trophy finalist, the New York Rangers had spent the majority of practice game-planning how they were going to stop the NHL’s top goal-scorer from finding the back of the net.
Get in his face, they said. Stay out of the penalty box, they added. And hope for the best?
That last one is perhaps the most realistic approach to shutting down the Washington Capitals sniper. You can’t stop Ovechkin. You just try to limit his chances. Even then, good luck.
“You can’t give him much time and space,” Rangers Ryan McDonagh had said of Ovechkin, who has three goals and six points in eight playoff games. “You want to try and be right on top of him before he gets the puck, so that he can’t get his speed going and get his head up and be creative.”
Ovechkin, who scored a goal and set up the game-winner by Joel Ward with 1.3 seconds remaining in the third period, showed just how dangerous he could be in a 2-1 win in Game 1 against the Rangers on Thursday night.
In the first period, he scored a rocket of a goal that no one saw until it hit the net and popped back out. And with overtime looming, the Washington captain fed Ward in front of the net on a buzzer beater. It was vintage Ovechkin, who finished with a game-high six shots and nine attempts.
“It’s a huge challenge, especially this time of year,” Ovechkin said prior to the game. “It’s great.”
The Capitals were on the power play when Ovechkin carried the puck down the left side of the ice with speed and — after defenceman Dan Boyle gave him too much space — beat a stunned Henrik Lundqvist with a laser.
But it was not the goal that had people talking. It was apparent taunt he shouted towards Lundqvist about 30 afterwards.
“All series, baby!” Ovechkin could be heard saying on the broadcast as he skated past the Rangers goaltender. “All series!”
It was a bold comment. Then again, when you score a leagueleading 53 goals in the regular season — 11 more than New York’s Rick Nash, who finished second in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy — you can afford to be cocky. Of course, Lundqvist stopped every shot he faced since.
“Ovi doesn’t shy away from any matchups,” said Capitals head coach Barry Trotz. “I mean, he’s gone head-to-head against the (Zdeno) Charas of the world and in the previous series (against the Islanders).”
This was Ovechkin at his best. He threw bodychecks, he fired shots from all angles and was a headache
Ovi doesn’t shy away from any matchups. I mean, he’s gone head-tohead against the (Zdeno) Charas of the world …
for the Rangers every time he stepped on the ice. On one shift, he batted down a clearing attempt from a New York defenceman, then wheeled around and had a shot ring off the crossbar. At the same time, the Rangers defence hacked, slashed and consistently drove Ovechkin to the ice. When Dominic Moore took a holding penalty, the league’s No. 1-ranked power play in the regular season went to work.
In the first period, New York outshot Washington 12-to-7 and had a chance to take an early lead when J.T. Miller redirected a pass from McDonagh that just hit the outside of the post. But even when the shots were on target, Caps’ goaltender Braden Holtby was there for the save.
The Capitals goalie held the fort when Derick Brassard tried to shovel in a loose puck that was sitting inches from the goal-line in the second period. And in the third, Holtby got a piece of a Martin St. Louis wrist shot that appeared to redirect off a Washington defender’s body.
The closest the Rangers came to scoring was when Chris Kreider steamrollered through the crease and took the net with him. On another play, Holtby’s mask popped off after taking a high stick from Tanner Glass.
“It’s going to be a heated playoff series, I’m sure,” Washington forward Tom Nilson said.