Rangers Fall Short at Devil's Gate

The memory of missing the playoffs for first time since 1996 and the ghost of an 18-year-old wound were wiped out with a sweep of rookie Adam Henrique's stick.

The New Jersey Devils are going back to the Stanley Cup finals, thanks to Henrique, a 40-year-old goaltender and a coach who'd never been to the postseason in the NHL.

How's that for a turnaround?

Henrique scored off a wild scramble in front at 1:03 into overtime and the Devils defeated the rival New York Rangers, 3-2, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to advance to their first Stanley Cup finals since 2003.

"It means a lot," Devils leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk said minutes after reaching the Cup finals for the first time. "It's a great feeling. Last year was a tough one, but this year was totally different. We played well all year. The first round of the playoffs was a little tough but after that, I think we figured out our game and what it takes to win."

After beating Florida, Philadelphia and their biggest rivals, the Rangers, only the Los Angeles Kings stand in the way of a fourth Cup for New Jersey.

The title round begins here Wednesday.

This series win came against the Devils' most intense rival, and it was that much sweeter.

"That one was like Christmas," said Henrique, who also scored the series winner in overtime as Devils' first-round, Game 7 win over the Panthers.

It also was needed. The Devils blew a 2-0 first-period lead and didn't want to head back to New York for a Game 7 on Sunday.

"It didn't matter how it got to overtime, we were in a good position," Devils captain Zach Parise said. "We were at home. We just needed one shot."

Actually, the Devils needed four shots to win the game.

Henrique's winner came after Henrik Lundqvist stopped Kovalchuk twice and Alexei Ponikarovsky. The last shot lay in the crease and Henrique tapped it home.

"We caught them on a line change and their defensemen were tired," said Devils coach Peter DeBoer, who was fired by Florida after missing the playoffs in his three seasons. "We found a way to jam one in. That's the only way you're going to score on Lundqvist. You're not going to get a clean one. You're going to have to work for it around the net.

"And that's what we did."

Ryan Carter and Kovalchuk also scored for the Devils, whose biggest move this year was hiring DeBoer. He has more than proved his coaching ability.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Callahan tallied for top-seeded New York, which had a good flurry just before New Jersey scored to end it.

Henrique, who is nominated for the Calder Trophy -- given to the NHL's top rookie -- skated away from the crease and jumped against the end boards in the corner as his teammates hopped off the bench and mobbed him.

The six Rangers on the ice just stayed down in disbelief and frustration. This was very much like Game 5, which the Devils won 5-3. New York carried the play after the first period and had a 35-29 edge in shots.

But when it came time for a game-deciding play to be made, it was a Devil who made it.

"When they scored, it was such an empty feeling," said Lundqvist, who said the puck took a weird bounce on the final play. "It is shocking."

Henrique overcame injury to score this one. He seemed to take a stick from Brian Boyle in the groin area late in the third and had to leave the ice.

He felt no pain after the game winner.

All the Rangers could do was bow their heads and then line up for the traditional handshake after losing to their cross-rival rivals in a series that was close.

"That's playoff hockey, and that's usually where you get an overtime goal," Rangers veteran Brandon Prust said. "Just whacking away in front of the net, getting rebounds."

Martin Brodeur, 40, kept the Devils alive in the third. He stopped a power-play shot by Brad Richards, made a save on Artem Anisimov between the circles and used his stick to deflect a pass from the boards by Carl Hagelin in the final minute just before it got to Marian Gaborikon the edge of the crease.

"You could tell he was in the zone. He led us," Parise said. "He made some big saves tonight."

Lundqvist's best stop in the third was on Dainius Zubrus on a shot from behind the circles.

Facing elimination and down 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Rangers found their game in the second period and tied the game at 2-all on goals by Fedotenko and Callahan in a roughly four-minute span.

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who assisted on both goals, made the big play to get New York back in the game. He collected the puck above the left circle, skated around the net and tried a wrap around. The shot didn't go on goal but it turned out to be a perfect pass to Fedotenko who a tap-in into an open net at 9:47.

Callahan, who had a New York goal go off his leg in the Devils' 5-3 win on Wednesday, tied the game at 13:41 when Dan Girardi's shot from the right point deflected off his leg into the open lower corner of the net. Callahan's sixth of the postseason was set up when Brandon Dubinsky won a faceoff in the left circle.

Carter, who scored the game winner in New York on Wednesday night after the Devils blew a 3-0 lead, put New Jersey ahead again at 10:05 of the opening period.

The play started with a bad pinch at the point by Rangers defenseman Marc Staal. Steve Bernier led a 3-on-1 and found Stephen Gionta coming down the middle for a solo chance against Lundqvist. The Rangers goaltender stopped the shot, but Carter swatted the rebound home for his fourth of the playoffs.

Kovalchuk's seventh goal of the postseason and fifth on the power play was a thing of beauty. All five Devils skaters touched the puck with tape-to-tape passes with Zubrus finding Kovalchuk alone low in the left circle for a shot that Lundqvist had little chance to stop.

The Devils -- as is the tradition for many Cup finalists -- did not touch the Prince of Wales Trophy that was presented at centre ice. As the team skated off to their locker room, "Glory Days," the 1984 hit from New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen serenaded them.

The game was played on the 18-year anniversary of the Rangers' dramatic, 4-2, Game 6 victory over New Jersey at the Meadowlands, a victory that pushed that classic Eastern Conference final series to a Game 7 and eventually led New York to its first Stanley Cup in 54 years. That game, of course, was preceded by a guarantee from Rangers captain Mark Messier, who delivered three goals en route to the victory.

This time, though, there will be no Game 7.

Devils Get Ugly and Level

The Eastern Conference finals between the rival New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils finally got ugly -- real ugly.

Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was sucker punched in the third period by former teammate Mike Rupp. Coaches Peter DeBoer of New Jersey and John Tortorella of New York screamed at each other after the incident. And the Rangers blew their cool, as the Devils rode two goals and an assist by Zach Parise to a 4-1 victory on Monday night that evened the series, 2-2.

"Throughout a seven-game series," Parise said, "both teams are going to get frustrated with things."

Well, Monday was New York's turn. And only time will tell if it spills over to Game 5, Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. As for Game 3, though, the story was the hit on Brodeur, who made 28 saves en route to his 10th win of the postseason.

After all, the punch came out of nowhere and almost set off a battle on the ice before the coaches got into it on the benches.

"You don't like to see that," DeBoer said of the hit on his goaltender. "He's a key guy for us. Two teams battling it out. He's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

Brodeur was more surprised by the incident than anything else.

"I didn't expect anything," the 40-year-old said. "I never got punched like that in my career. First time. It kind of surprised me more than anything, but now I know I can take a punch."

Tortorella refused to say anything about his shouting match with DeBoer, with whom he has argued several times this season, including Sunday when he complained about the Devils using illegal picks and embellishing penalties.

"This isn't about John and I," DeBoer said. "This is about the guys on the ice. So, I don't have anything to say about that."

This game -- and its result -- seemed almost anticlimactic after the shenanigans.

Bryce Salvador and Travis Zajac beat Henrik Lundqvist less than four minutes apart in the first to give the Devils their first two-goal lead in a series where the intensity and the emotions are picking up to the point where they now compare to the classic 1994 Eastern Conference Finals between these two rivals.

In that series, there were suspensions on both sides, three double-overtime games, a Game 6 "Guarantee" by New York captain Mark Messier, and unparallelled drama.

Well, this one is getting there.

On Monday, Brodeur, the only remaining player on either side from that 1994 series, even notched an assist in the third, on Parise's empty netter, capping a game in which the Devils maintained their composure and bounced back from a 3-0 shutout in Game 3, while the Rangers took several uncharacteristic penalties and seemed rattled from the start.

And the chippiness increased with each period. New York's Marc Staal whacked Patrik Elias in the back of the knee with his stick in the second. Ryan Callahan, the Rangers captain, and New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk tussled and then jawed at each other from the respective penalty boxes.

"There are going to be situations out there where we get into each other's faces," Callahan said. "That's playoff hockey."

But the Rupp incident might have been a little over the top, even for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

A former Devil who scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal for New Jersey in 2003 vs. Anaheim, Rupp jabbed Brodeur in his crease in the third after a stoppage in play. That almost set off a free-for-all among the players on the ice, especially after Brodeur reacted like he had been hit by a roundhouse left.

As Brodeur walked through the locker room, he was asked if Rupp was his friend.

"That's what I thought," he said before heading to the podium for a postgame news conference. Meanwhile, Rupp was not available for comment.

The punch came about four minutes after Parise scored on a power play to give New Jersey a 3-0 lead and for all practical purposes, ended the game. Ruslan Fedotenko ruined Brodeur's bid for his 25th career playoff shutout with just over five minutes to play.

The Rangers pulled Lundqvist, who had shut out the Devils in Games 1 and 3, with less than three minutes to play, and Brodeur made two outstanding saves to keep it a two-goal game.

Parise -- two days after he did not speak to reporters after a disappointing effort in Game 3 -- finally iced it with his second of the game and sixth of the playoffs. It was a clearing pass that found its way into the net. Brodeur notched the assist on that play. It was his fourth point of the playoffs.

But this game -- which did not include New York's Brandon Prust, who was suspended for elbowing Anton Volchenkov in Game 3 -- was decided early because the Devils finally found ways to beat Lundqvist.

New Jersey dominated much of the play in Game 3, and the first period of Game 4 was even worse for the Rangers. They looked slow, were outhustled on nearly every shift, and they didn't get a shot on goal until roughly halfway through.

By then, New Jersey already had a 1-0 lead, on a goal by Salvador, and was cruising.

Salvador's see-eying shot through a half-dozen players from the left point sneaked by the Rangers' netminder for New Jersey's first goal since the third period of Game 2. New Jersey's Jacob Josefson, playing for the first time since breaking his left wrist on April 3, failed to deflect the shot on the way in, and New York's Anton Stralman seemed to screen Lundqvist, who seemingly never saw the wristshot.

Zajac's goal gave the Devils a 2-0 edge at 11:59, and the rejuvenated Parise had a big hand in it.

New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus sent the puck along the boards and New York's Michael Del Zotto made two mistakes. He didn't flag down the puck and then, he allowed Parise to skate past him, setting up a 2-on-1 break. Parise lifted a pass over the stick of a prone Dan Girardi, and Zajac one-timed the pass into the upper portion of the net before Lundqvist could react.

Parise extended the lead to 3-0 early in the third, just four seconds after New York's Derek Stepan was sent off for high sticking. Kovalchuk took a shot from the point that Lundqvist could not control and Parise whacked the rebound into the net.

Lundqvist Has Devil of a Time

Henrik Lundqvist had little time to do more than stop every breakaway or 2-on-1 attempt New Jersey shot his way. When he took a moment to breathe, Lundqvist had all the confidence his New York Rangers would bail him out with a goal or two.

"You know sooner or later it's going to turn," he said. "It's going to turn in our favour."

Unlike those dozens of Devils' shots, his feeling was right on the mark.

Lundqvist had 36 saves, and Dan Girardi, Chris Kreider and Ryan Callahan scored third-period goals to lead the Rangers to a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday.

Girardi and Kreider scored goals only 1 minute, 57 seconds apart early in the third to seize the momentum in a packed building with fans of both teams at a fever pitch, and give New York a 2-1 series lead. Indeed it was a quick span the Devils may long regret, especially after they dominated long stretches of Game 3.

"We played a real good hockey game," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "We lost. We gotta find a way to score a goal."

The Rangers did, and they did so in a stretch that would compare to some of coach John Tortorella's short and not-so-sweet press conferences. But Tortorella abandoned his normally terse responses to praise his goalie after the win.

"He a great competitor," Tortorella said, "as far as his preparation and as far as what he does for this hockey club."

Lundqvist was busy from the opening faceoff en route to his second shutout of the series and third in the postseason. Callahan iced it with an empty-netter late in third.

Game 4 is Monday in New Jersey.

Not even playing on home ice, where they had won four straight, was enough to help New Jersey. The Rangers have won every Game 1, lost each Game 2, and rebounded to win Game 3 in every round this postseason. Each preceding series, of course, saw them win the all-important last one: Game 7.

Kreider, a rookie called up during Round 1 vs. Ottawa, has scored in every game of this series.

"I'd trade that for three wins," Kreider said. "I'm worried about the next one."

Lundqvist was fantastic as he showed again why he led the Rangers to an Eastern Conference-high 109 points. He stoned Adam Henrique on a nice backhander late in the second period to keep it scoreless entering the third, setting the stage for New York's late magic.

He also toyed with Ilya Kovalchuk all game and stopped him on a nice breakaway in the second. Kovalchuk, who scored in Game 2, couldn't get untracked and neither could the rest of the Devils.

Especially not with the way Lundqvist shined in net.

"I was a little lucky today, a couple times where I made the first move I still ended up making the save," he said. "That's not going to happen all the time. So you need some luck sometimes. I always say you earn your luck by working hard.

"But today was a good day."

The Rangers opened the third ready to go against Martin Brodeur and found a way to give Lundqvist a needed cushion.

With New Jersey's Bryce Salvador in the penalty box, Girardi pushed a slow wrist shot past Brodeur's glove side, off a faceoff win by Brad Richards. Brodeur could have easily stopped the point-blank shot, especially with no traffic in front of the net.

"I thought the biggest play there was the faceoff win," Tortorella said of Richards' play. "We struggled a little bit there on our power play."

Ryan McDonagh then wristed a shot along the ice toward Brodeur that got through to the crease, eventually being deflected by Kreider and around a prone Brodeur. New Jersey's Marek Zidlicky was out of position at the faceoff circle, when Kreider sneaked in behind him and poked it in.

"I was just trying to get to the net," he said. "It was a great shot and found my stick."

The Devils kept up the pressure the rest of the way, but got nowhere with an ineffective 0 for 5 power play. And as they skated off dejectedly toward their locker room, they could only look back and wonder how they came up empty with so many shots on Lundqvist.

"It's not like we didn't create anything," New Jersey's Patrik Elias said. "They didn't block everything, they didn't outbattle us. It was a battle from both teams -- hard."

New Jersey spent most of the game sticking it to the Rangers all over the ice. The Devils dominated and outshot the Rangers (26-14) through the first two periods.

In the second period, New York's Brandon Prust threw a hard right elbow into the back of Anton Volchenkov's head that knocked the defenseman down in a heap. No penalty was called and the crowd howled in protest. DeBoer was furious at the non-call and was yelling on the bench as he looked up at the replay overhead. Volchenkov eventually got to his feet and later returned to the ice.

"Head-hunting," DeBoer said, stealing Tortorella's tone for an answer or two. "Plain and simple."

Lundqvist was at his best in the third, snaring Kovalchuk's one-timer to turn away any attempt at a late Devils' rally.

"He's been the backbone of our team for a long time now," Girardi said. "He's making huge saves."

The Devils pulled Brodeur with 2:33 left and that backfired only 10 seconds later when Callahan knocked in an easy look that bounced off the back boards. The three-goal cushion allowed the Rangers fans in attendance to boast a bit as their rivals struggled. "Let's go Ran-gers" chants were prevalent, as were derogatory "Mar-ty" chants toward the Devils' veteran netminder.

Brodeur shrugged off the chants.

"It's momentum off the way we play that dictates how our crowd is going to be in our building, because there are a lot of Rangers fans coming over," Brodeur said. "They are the ones, I guess, with the money and they are sitting right beside us, too.

"It's not new for us."

Losing at home, though, is. The Devils, after all, had won four straight postseason games at The Rock.

That streak is history. Thanks to the man the Rangers call "Hank."

Devils Level Eastern Finals

Rangers Wash Capitals to Win Series

Henrik Lundqvist went from shaking his head in disgust to raising his arms in celebration when time finally ran out on the Washington Capitals. Such is life as a New York Ranger these days.

Lundqvist was perfect in yet another nail-biting game that was razor close throughout the tension-filled, seven-game series, until the Capitals cut the Rangers' brief two-goal lead to one in the third period of Game 7. But Washington couldn't muster much else, and New York held on for a 2-1 victory on Saturday night that sent the top-seeded Rangers into the Eastern Conference finals against the No. 6 New Jersey Devils.

"We didn't expect the first blowout," said Rangers forward Brad Richards, who staked his team to a 1-0 lead just 1:32 in. "We expected another tight game. It came down to that again. It's just the way this series has gone, and it didn't change."

Michael Del Zotto also scored for the Rangers, who enjoyed the two-goal lead for all of 38 seconds before Capitals defenseman Roman Hamrlik made it 2-1 with 9:17 remaining.

Coming into Game 7, these teams were tied or within one goal of each other for 90 percent of the time, and the finale provided much of the same.

Lundqvist finished with 22 saves for the Rangers, who improved to 5-0 in Game 7s at Madison Square Garden. Now they will face the Atlantic Division-rival Devils in a rematch of the 1994 East finals, won dramatically by New York on Stephane Matteau's double-overtime goal in Game 7. That propelled the Rangers toward their first Cup title in 54 years.

It was that series that truly put this regional rivalry on an international stage. With stars on both sides, the Rangers and Devils, separated by just six miles and the Hudson River, played 27 periods of dramatic, tense hockey that ultimately resulted in each team winning a Stanley Cup over the next 13 months.

The Rangers have beaten the Devils in four of their five previous playoff meetings.

This next instalment will open Monday in New York. The Devils have been off since eliminating the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 on Tuesday.

"It feels good to get that win," Rangers forward Marian Gaborik said. "You have to enjoy it for a little bit, but Monday we start from scratch again. We need to feel good about ourselves and get ready for the next series."

New York and Washington alternated wins and losses from Game 1 on, and this one didn't come easy for the Rangers, who missed a chance to eliminate the Capitals in Game 6 on the road.

It was yet another heartbreaker for Washington, which was trying to reach the conference finals for the third time. Six of the Capitals' seven playoff losses were by one goal, and only one of their 14 games overall were decided by more than one.

As they came off the ice after the final buzzer, the Capitals could be seen and heard smashing their sticks against the wall as they headed down the hallway to their dressing room.

"It's disappointing," said Braden Holtby, who made 29 saves. "We really did believe in here that we had the team to do it all. We gave ourselves a great chance. It's a tough loss. What we can take out of it is that New York is a very good team. We didn't leave anything on the table."

Before the cheering subsided after Del Zotto's goal, Hamrlik sent a shot off New York forward Derek Stepan that fluttered past Lundqvist for his only blemish of the night and left him shaking his head.

Suddenly, the jubilant crowd was thrown back into a state of nervousness, even though the score board pleaded all night for the fans to "Believe."

"Anytime you experience a surge like this, the momentum can turn. But we didn't let it happen," Del Zotto said. "We weren't happy about some of our play in the middle period but we found a way to keep them at bay."

The shots were 12-11 in favour of the Rangers in the scoreless second period, and New York took over in the third with an 11-4 edge.

Both the Rangers and the Capitals reached the second round of this year's playoffs with Game 7 wins. New York knocked out Ottawa, and seventh-seeded Washington eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.

"We played hard. It's tough to swallow," forward Brooks Laich said. "I don't think we exceeded anybody's expectations. We had higher aspirations."

History isn't all on the Rangers' side. Since playoff expansion, no club has played 14 games in the first two rounds and went on to capture the Cup. They did reverse a recent trend in which Washington eliminated them from the playoffs in two of the previous three years, including the Capitals' comeback from a 3-1 series deficit in the first round in 2009.

New York played a very disciplined game, taking only one penalty for delay of game against Ruslan Fedotenko in the third period. The Rangers' power play did nothing on its two chances, but keeping Washington's man-advantage unit off the ice helped secure this win.

The Capitals tried to pull Holtby for an extra skater with 1:22 left in the game, but he had to scramble back to cover the vacated net before he ever got to the bench.

He finally got off the ice, and the Capitals pressured in the Rangers' end. The puck was stuck in the corner when the final seconds ran out, and Lundqvist thrust both arms in the air as streamers poured down from the ceiling.

Matching the Capitals' quick start in Game 6, the Rangers jumped out quickly and took a 1-0 lead when Richards scored on New York's first shot.

Carl Hagelin used his speed to chase down a dump-in in the lower right corner of the Capitals' zone and curled behind the net with the puck on his backhand. As he came out the other side, Hagelin feathered a pass up to Richards, who one-timed a shot that beat Holtby inside the right post while Gaborik was in front of the net.

It was Richards' team-leading fourth goal of the series and sixth of the playoffs.

"It's a big goal. It gets the nerves out," Richards said. "You don't exhale, but you have the 1-0 lead. You got the crowd in it. They're not waiting for something to happen.

"They did it to us in Game 6 when they got an early goal. We did that tonight."

Although Washington controlled the puck for large chunks of the game, the Capitals yet again couldn't overcome the dreaded 1-0 deficit. The team that scored first won all seven games in the series. The numbers were even more stark for the Capitals, who went 0-6 in the playoffs after allowing the first goal and 7-1 when they grabbed the first lead.

Del Zotto started and finished the Rangers' second scoring play. He levelled Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin in the New York and moved the puck up ice. He eventually took a pass from Gaborik and snapped a shot past Holtby.

However, before the cheers subsided, the Capitals got back within a goal on Hamrlik's first of the playoffs.

This one was tight throughout.

Washington was outshot 12-11 in the second period, that featured a blank score sheet with no goals and no penalties. Midway through the frame, the Capitals kept the pressure on the Rangers with Ovechkin's line on the ice and camped out in the New York end for about two minutes.

As the tired Rangers chased Washington all around their zone and unable to change any players, the Capitals moved the puck side to side and up and down, seemingly keeping Lundqvist on a swivel. Many of their shots were offline, but the Capitals produced several prime chances that Lundqvist turned away -- each one drawing sighs, but appreciative cheers from the towel-waving crowd.

"We came up short. We played a good team and a great goalie," Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom said. "The Rangers played the way we played last game. They got a lead at the beginning and they controlled the game. We had some good puck possession in the second period but we couldn't get any real opportunities."

Mike Knuble had a good whack at the puck at the left post, but Lundqvist was there with his pad to keep it out.

Holtby, who became a father on Thursday, shook off Richards' early strike and seemed to gain confidence as the game wore on and the pressure built at the other end of the ice.

Full OSM news service

Capitals Host Rangers in DC

No matter how seemingly devastating a defeat, in overtime or otherwise, the Washington Capitals -- from two-time NHL MVP Alex Ovechkin to playoff rookie goalie Braden Holtby -- simply do not allow setbacks to bother them. They regroup, get back out there and follow a loss with a victory, each time by the slimmest of margins.

Ovechkin rebounded from a rare zero-shot performance by scoring after 88 seconds Wednesday night, Holtby made 30 saves, and the Capitals recovered the way they always seem to, beating the top-seeded New York Rangers 2-1 to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

"We're resilient," Washington defenseman Karl Alzner said. "We have that thick skin. We know when to battle back when we need to and have to."

Never moreso than after Game 5 on Monday night, when No. 7-seeded Washington managed to blow a lead in the last 10 seconds of regulation. New York scored a power-play goal with 7.6 seconds left in the third period to tie it, and another 1½ minutes into overtime to win it.

The Capitals could have folded. Instead, they staved off elimination, and the teams will meet in New York on Saturday night to determine who will face the New Jersey Devils in the conference finals.

"It's where we want to be," Holtby said. "We didn't expect a short series."

He improved to 6-0 in games after losses this postseason.

That's why the Capitals are 4-0 in games that follow overtime losses in the playoffs. One other bit of proof that they know how to bounce back: They haven't lost consecutive games since March 22-23.

"Everyone, I think, counted us out," said Jason Chimera, who scored in the second period to make it 2-0, Washington's second two-goal lead of the series. "This is the way we are. ... We don't really crack."

Ovechkin's reduced role became a major talking point throughout these playoffs: Usually a 20-minute-a-game guy, he played as few as 13½ minutes in Game 2 against New York. He also came up quiet in Game 5 on Monday night, with no shots on goal, only the second time in 49 career playoff games that had happened to the man they call Alex the Great.

Before Wednesday's game, Ovechkin told reporters: "We just can't go home right now."

He helped make sure they didn't yet.

About 1½ minutes after the opening faceoff, Ovechkin dropped to a knee as he powered a slap shot just inside the right post from about 30 feet in front of goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

It was Ovechkin's 30th career playoff goal, tying the franchise record held by Peter Bondra, and came 15 seconds after Rangers defenseman Anton Stralman was sent to the penalty box for tripping Chimera.

Another miscue followed: Defenseman Ryan McDonagh wasted a chance to clear the puck, instead sending it along the boards right to a Capitals player. That giveaway led to a series of crisp passes by the Capitals -- Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green were credited with assists -- and an animated earful for McDonagh from Rangers coach John Tortorella.

That early edge proved to be a good omen for the Capitals, who are 7-1 this postseason when scoring first -- and 0-5 when their opponent scores first. In this series, all six games were won by whichever team led 1-0.

"Obviously, we talked about coming out and starting well, and they get a goal right away on the power play. It kind of set the tone for the game," Lundqvist said. "From there, it was just hard for us to get going."

Later in the first period, Ovechkin nearly scored one of his YouTube-ready, "How did he do that?" goals, somehow managing to lift the puck past Lundqvist while belly-flopping onto the ice. But the puck hit the crossbar. Then, at the opposite end of the rink, Ovechkin used his back to block a shot by McDonagh, preventing the puck from even approaching Holtby -- the sort of thing the Russian wing is not known for, but his teammates have turned into an art form this postseason.

The Capitals rank No. 1 in blocked shots during these playoffs -- the Rangers are No. 2 -- and Washington put together a 24-6 edge Wednesday. Ovechkin contributed three blocks.

"He had a lot of energy," Capitals coach Dale Hunter said. "He's ready to go when he's called upon, and he played a good game tonight."

Rangers Capitalise on Garden Magic

Euphoria replaced pure panic at Madison Square Garden in a matter of moments, and even the most optimistic New York Rangers fan couldn't have seen this one coming.....

Rangers Cap Win in Game 5

Marc Staal scored a power-play goal 1:35 into overtime after Brad Richards tied it in the dying seconds of regulation to lift the New York Rangers to a stunning 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Monday night.

Chris Kreider Lifts Rangers

Kreider gives Rangers play-off lead

Rangers Earn Homecoming

Rangers on the Boyle

Brian Boyle is quickly becoming a huge thorn in the Ottawa Senators side.

It's one thing to have to deal with the physical side of the 6-foot-7 New York Rangers forward, but his sudden burst of offense is a whole other problem.

Henrik Lundqvist made 39 saves for his fourth NHL playoff shutout, and Boyle scored for the third straight game to break a third-period tie as the New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 1-0 on Monday night.

The Rangers, who lost Game 2 at home in overtime after being ahead in the third period, lead the best-of-seven, first-round series 2-1. Game 4 will be Wednesday night in Ottawa before the series returns to New York.

Boyle can hardly be considered a superstar, but aside from Lundqvist he has made the biggest difference in this series. He has scored in every game and been a dominant physical presence for the Rangers.

"We've got to make sure we pay attention to him," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "He's a big, strong guy and went to the net and got himself a goal, and that's the way he's been doing it. That's good for them, good for him and we just have to make sure we mark him a little bit better."

It's no surprise the Senators didn't anticipate Boyle being a difference maker in this series. Even the 27-year-old center didn't expect this kind of success.

"If I'm the villain to them that's good," Boyle said. "If I knew (I would score this often) I probably would have tried to do it a lot earlier. It's been fortunate bounces."

Lundqvist's biggest save came in the last minute when he robbed Kyle Turris on the doorstep with a quick pad stop.

"I think we all felt we needed this (win)," Lundqvist said. "We needed to close this one off after we let the last one slip away. It's an unbelievable feeling."

Craig Anderson was nearly as good, keeping the Senators in it with a 22-save effort.

The Senators admitted to feeling some frustration because of the loss, but they still feel confident heading into Game 4.

"I thought we played really well and thought we took it to them for the majority of that game, it's just Lundqvist was really good for them," forward Nick Foligno said. "That's not to take anything away from (Anderson) because he was outstanding, but they were able to find a squeaky one. I think we need to do more of the same except to get a couple."

Ottawa was without captain Daniel Alfredsson, who sustained a concussion in Game 2 when he was elbowed in the head by Rangers rookie Carl Hagelin. Hagelin served the first of a three-game NHL suspension for the hit.

Hagelin is now assured of being eligible to play again this postseason. He will be able to return either in Game 6 of this series, or the opener of the second round.

Bobby Butler replaced Alfredsson. Chris Kreider, who nine days earlier won the NCAA championship with Boston College, made his NHL debut in place of Hagelin.

"We could be standing here talking about us winning 1-0 just as easy as we're talking about them beating us 1-0," MacLean said. "Certainly we missed Alfie in the game, but I thought the team really stepped up and played well in his absence."

The Senators dominated play early in the third period, forcing Lundqvist to make a number of saves. But it was the Rangers who scored the only goal of the game.

Boyle took a rebound off the side of the net and backhanded a shot past Anderson to break the deadlock at 7:35.

"It's tough for Anderson when it bounces off the wall that hard and then hits the net and comes at another angle, and I'm facing it the whole time," Boyle said. "I tried to put it in the general area, and fortunately it went there. A lot of times it doesn't, but again fortunately for us it did."

With 7:09 remaining, the Senators went on the power play, but it was short-lived because Chris Phillips took a slashing penalty on Boyle, who had a breakaway opportunity.

The Senators dominated much of the second period, outshooting the Rangers 13-8, but the Rangers also had their chances.

At 11:00, Ruslan Fedotenko's shot hit the post, but the rebound trickled across the goal line as Anderson and forward Jason Spezza dove to smother it. A video review clearly showed that the puck didn't cross the line.

Lundqvist made several stops in the second as Ottawa's fourth line wreaked havoc. Jim O'Brien was denied twice, and Erik Condra and Zack Smith had great chances, as well.

Turris also missed a great opportunity midway through the period.

"We ran into a hot goaltender," Anderson said. "We just have to find a way to get more traffic and put a couple by him."

A scoreless first period featured chances by both teams, but neither was able to capitalize, despite both having power plays. Both teams have struggled with the man advantage throughout the series.

The Senators haven't won a playoff game at home since Game 3 of the 2007 Stanley Cup finals -- a seven-game losing streak.

Ottawa is 0-3 in postseason games without Alfredsson in the lineup.

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