Rangers even series with 3-2 victory over Capitals

Lundqvist makes 30 saves

NEW YORK, May 3, (AP): The New York Rangers needed to bounce back after a tough loss to the Washington Capitals. Chris Kreider didn’t need long to get them going.

Kreider scored 38 seconds after the opening faceoff, and the Rangers defeated the Capitals 3-2 in the NHL on Saturday, tying their Eastern Conference semifinal series at 1-1.

“It helped us a lot to get back on track and not think too much, just play our game and get the building going,” said Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who made 30 saves.

Game 3 is in Washington on Monday, and if it is like the first two, it should be fun. Both games have been decided by a goal.

Dan Boyle and Derick Brassard also scored for New York in the entertaining game that featured a highlight-reel goal by Alexander Ovechkin that made the final 10 minutes exciting. Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for Washington and Braden Holtby made 32 saves and prevented the Capitals from being blown out early.

Game 2 will be remembered for Kreider’s early goal and Ovechkin’s spectacular tally in the third period, when the NHL’s top goal-scorer got past top defensemen Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh and beat Lundqvist with a top-shelf shot as he was falling to the ice.

Winner Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo (right), second Repsol Honda Team’s Spanish rider Marc Marquez (left), and third Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Italian rider Valentino Rossi celebrate on the podium of the MotoGP race of the...

Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals makes a second period save on Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 2, in New...