The Rangers have been beaten to a pulp lately, with Brandon Dubinsky, Erik Christensen, and Alex Frolov (among others) sitting in the owner’s suite with injuries. Some, like Frolov, are out for the year, while some, like Dubinsky, are due back in a few weeks. Still, the Rangers are without these players, and as a result, they’ve lost three of their last five and are flirting with eighth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Rangers Vs. Capitals: New York’s 2-1 Shootout Win Keeps Them Afloat In Eastern Race
The Washington Capitals, meanwhile, have already hit their rough patch this season, as the narrative would dictate. They’ve faced their adversity, they’ve come out of it, and now they’re ready to take their spot on top of the Southeast Division. Point-getters in their last five games, it’s only a matter of time before the Caps bump Tampa out of that spot.
These are the descriptions of these two teams before they faced off against each other last night at Verizon Center. You’d think, based off of these results, that the Capitals would be able to pull out a win. After all, they rarely lose on home ice.
But the hockey God’s seemed to be on the Rangers’ side last night, as evidenced by Marian Gaborik’s third period goal that tied the game at 1-1.
Artem Anisimov would score the game winner in the shootout, helped along by Wojtek Wolski’s absolute beauty earlier in the penalty shot contest. The Rangers skated away with two much needed points, while the Capitals fell even further behind the division-leading Lightning. In fact, the Rangers are now just two points behind Washington in the race for the fifth spot in the conference.
- Over at Japers’ Rink, a new contributor to the site thinks Versus will think twice before putting the defensive show that was last night’s matchup on the national airwaves again.
- At Blueshirt Banter, they’re starting to believe that there’s no obstacle too large for this Rangers team to overcome.
See More:
