FAST LEARNERS
WASHINGTON — If the fifth game of the season can provide for a signature victory, then the Rangers gladly will affix their names to this one.
“Of course a win like this is good for the character of our team,” Henrik Lundqvist said after the Blueshirts roared back from a first period 2-0 deficit to defeat the Capitals, 4-2, Saturday night. “I think it proves to us that if we stick to our system that we can beat anybody.”
The Rangers utilized their imposing new speed game, of course, but it wasn’t all flash and dash. Indeed, after gaining a 3-2 lead at 14:22 of the second on Jimmy Vesey’s second goal in three minutes, the Blueshirts buckled down and protected the lead with an intelligent, gritty approach that frustrated the reigning President’s Trophy winners.
“That’s what I liked the most,” said Lundqvist, who pitched a shutout over the final 45:11 after Lars Eller and Alex Ovechkin scored early. “We can play with speed, but when it was time to shut them down, we were able to do it. That’s great for our confidence to know we can be successful more than one way.”
The Rangers used a combination of speed, intelligence and work on the specialty teams to improve to 3-2 entering Sunday night’s Garden match against the Coyotes. After closing to within 2-1 on Brandon “Shooter” Pirri’s wrist shot from the high slot that beat Braden Holtby at 2:21 of the second, the Blueshirts surrendered just one shot while killing a double minor to Mika Zibanejad under two minutes later before Vesey got the tying goal at 11:22 on the power play.
“You could feel the boost from that PK,” said Ryan McDonagh, who had another big-time performance in 25:36 that included 9:47 of work in the third period. “It was a great performance from our special teams that honestly weren’t very good our last game [a 2-1 loss] against Detroit. “When we fell behind by those two goals early, we recognized on the bench what we needed to correct and started making those bump plays in our own end that allowed us to get out of the zone and attack with speed.”
J.T. Miller played his best game of the young year by miles. Kevin Hayes kept it up. Rick Nash, strong all over the ice, parked himself in front to pick up a Derek Stepan rebound and set up Vesey’s power-play goal. Marc Staal, Kevin Klein and Nick Holden (matched much of the way against Ovechkin) were stout in front of Lundqvist.
“The way we’re using speed can be challenging until it becomes routine, but once you get the system down, it’s a fun way to play,” said Nash, who skated with Vesey and Stepan while Mats Zuccarello joined Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. “I thought we used our speed to get the lead in the second and then we were smart about protecting it in the third.”
The Blueshirts had just five shots in the second. Three of them were off the stick of Vesey, now up to three goals in his freshman year in the pros. His first one Saturday was a slam dunk into an empty side. The second, on which he beat Karl Alzner wide to the net from the left wing following a feed from Zuccarello after Zibanejad had broken up an attempted Washington outlet through the neutral zone (in which the Rangers have been so much better thus far) was indicative of Harvard’s grit and complete game.
“It was different in school when I could outskate and out-skill most guys,” Vesey told The Post. “Here, it’s a much more physical game. But I like physical, I like using my body to get to the net. On this one, I saw some space and went for it.
“It’s the first time I’ve tried that in the regular season,” he said before pausing to smile. “I think I’m going to do it more.”