It was a setback after one of the old matches of the Patrick Division play-off match, in which the opponents returned through four sets of matches from the first two rounds.
Here were the Rangers and Capitals who ground it out in Washington on Saturday, with no space allowed and no quarter a night after the Capitals gained the upper hand in a similar kind of tough draw by the power of two late strikes by the incomparable Alex Ovechkin.
Beat the Blueshirts once like that, honor the capitals. Acting as head coach Kris Knoblauch twice, they did not hit twice in 27 hours.
Or as far as that is concerned, also for Mika Zibanejad.
Because it was a revived Zibanejad who played a brilliant game to chase down Brendan Dillon, hacked the defensive stick before pushing himself off the kick before fetching it for his own and a short header next to Ilya Samsonov at 17: 28 of the third. period to lead the Rangers 2-1 in a game they salted away 3-1, using Brett Howden’s empty netter.
This was the type of elite work that Zibanejad and the Blueshirts lived on last season, when a late indictment received an invitation to the 24-team herd under the bubble. The music died in Toronto, but the group started humming again.
“I think they are very dedicated. “I think they feel they have a chance to win the play-offs, and they have to play well throughout the last game,” said Knoblauch, now 2-1 behind the bench, filling in for David Quinn. team in COVID-19 protocol until at least Friday. “I think there is also some conviction that they can play like the second half last year when they made quite a turn.”
Keith Kinkaid excelled in his net, skillful and in total commando when he encountered the few flurries that his team’s five – man defense allowed. The commitment to play through the body and be on the right side of the puck was clear. So was the Rangers’ commitment to avoiding turnover or sloppy puck management in the critical areas of the ice. They gave away almost nothing for nothing.
“I thought we were smart with the bag,” Zibanejad said. ‘They’re really a good team taking down the rush, and we just had to make sure we did not feed their offense.
“Everyone came back. Everyone has played hard and contributed in different ways, and I think that’s what we’ve been doing since the Philly [9-0] big win and in the last two games too. We were pretty good. ”
The defense and goal kick were powerful to limit Washington to three goals in three minutes, all of which were off the offenders from the lock. But one goal was not enough to win on Friday, and the one goal that Pavel Buchnevich deposited at 17:49 in the first period on Saturday for a 1-0 lead in the bench would not be enough if John Carlson on the scoring did not pass. a whirling backhand to tie it at 5:55 from the third period.
Knoblauch, who on Friday had his fourth streak against Ovechkin’s unit (or got caught) for both Great Eight goals, cut off his bench in this one and rode his – or Quinn’s – horses down the stretch. It was not a cookie cutter from behind the couch.
Alexis Lafreniere got a 34-second shift over the last 12:45 and finished with a season low of 7:53. Filip Chytil got two shifts worth 1:10 over the last 12:45. Brendan Lemieux did not get on the ice in the 9:10 final. Libor Hajek sat for the final 11:48 and Brendan Smith was away for the final 8:34 as the club went through with four defenders.
Meanwhile, Adam Fox was on for 5:12 of the final 9:55 and playing 10:17 in the third period for a game of 28:00. Zibanejad was on for 2:48 of the final 5:31 for a sum of 21:10. Zibanejad took the lead to set up Buchnevich’s goal in the first period and then blocked shots before finding the winner.
“We took out the puck and I basically just chased their D and tried to stay on him,” said Zibanejad, who has 10 points (4-6) over the past five games. ‘I got a push, I do not know if he got stuck in a groove or something, he fell and I could get the disc and try to get it on the net. It went in, so it’s nice. ‘Of course it feels good when you can contribute offensively. This is of course what is expected of me, but I’ve said it before, I’m feeling pretty good these past few weeks. I feel like me again. ‘
The Rangers also look a bit nicer.