Call it "pride goeth before the fall" night at Madison Square Garden. As the Washington Capitals left the second period, they were being taunted loudly with cheers of "Can you hear us?" and having played their worst period of the series, and faced themselves 20 minutes away from being tied in this Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. They manned up, got three in the third, and are tied 3-3 with the New York Rangers and head to overtime.
Capitals Vs. Rangers, Game 4: Johansson Ties It With Two Goals In The Third Period, Game Headed To Overtime
Early in the third, Ryan McDonagh turned the puck over to Alexander Semin, the shot went off Henrik Lundqvist, rolled behind him onto the line. Lundqvist attempted to cover, but lost control, and Semin found the puck lying on the line and put it home. Lundqvist protested that the whistle should have been blow, and the referees went to the War Room for a video review, but in the end it was determined we had a good goal. It was Semin’s second of the series to give the Capitals some life.
The Capitals struck again quickly, in similar fashion to when the Rangers got their two tallies in seven seconds. On the next shift, Marcus Johansson came in and threw an errant pass across Brooks Laich. Laich eventually gathered the puck and threw it in front, where Johansson remarkably tipped it in past Lundqvist to make it 3-2. Two goals in 57 seconds for Washington, and Johansson’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal made it a game again. Rangers coach John Tortorella quickly called timeout.
After what many fans felt was a missed penalty call on the Capitals at one end, the Rangers ended up taking a penalty of their own mid-way through the third. Sean Avery slashed Alexander Ovechkin to give the Capitals another power play. Despite some good pressure from the Capitals, the Rangers killed it off. But seconds later, the Capitals set-up John Carlson for a rocket of a shot that beat Henrik Lundqvist to tie it 3-3. For the second consecutive night, a big lead falls in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Johansson tipped it for his second of the game at 12:07.
Shortly after, Boyd Gordon took a tripping penalty. At 12:48, the Rangers had their chance to get the lead back quickly, much like Los Angeles had against the Sharks for a brief time last night. The Rangers were unable to score, leaving the game still tied headed down the stretch. Neither team could get a goal in the final 8:53, and after a wild one, we are headed to a second overtime game in this series. Stay tuned.
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