Capitals Vs. Rangers, Game 5: Alex Ovechkin, Caps Clinch Series

The New York Rangers scored eight goals in their five-game series against the Washington Capitals, and only two in three at the Verizon Center. Not the way to win a playoff series. The Capitals, who combined tough defense with timely scoring from their best offensive players, have finished off the New York Rangers in five games, winning Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal 2-0, and winning the series four games to one. Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Green and Alexander Semin tallied for the Capitals, behind a 26 save performance from Michal Neuvirth, his second of the series.

Though Neuvirth blanked the Rangers twice behind some great defense by the Capitals, Ovechkin will likely go down as the MVP of the series. His goal, at 7:04 of the second period, was the third of the series for Ovechkin, while he also registered his third assist on Mike Green’s power play goal in the first period, which will go down has the game-winner for Washington, though Green played only a few shifts after. Green sat on the bench for most of the rest of the game after taking a slap-shot to the helmet from Matt Gilroy.

After getting his third assist on the Mike Green goal earlier, Alexander Ovechkin has finally struck again in this series, and got some 1-on-1 vengeance against Henrik Lundqvist. With a chance to end their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the New York Rangers, the Washington Capitals lead Game 5 2-0 after two periods at the Verizon Center. Through two periods, the Capitals have out-shot the Rangers 19-16.

The Capitals continue to dominate the Rangers in almost every aspect of the game. At 7:04, Scott Hannan sprung Ovechkin, who walked in on Lundqvist. Fans will remember that Ovechkin and Lundqvist had a 1-on-1 break-away showdown in overtime of Game 4 in this series. Ovechkin went glove hand, and Lundqvist stopped him in that match-up. This time, Ovechkin deked to his backhand, and beat Lundqvist blocker side. Ovechkin has three goals and six points in the series.

Mike Green scored a goal and then took another dangerous hit to the head in the first period of Game 5 of this Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. Green left the ice minutes after scoring the goal that gives the Washington Capitals a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. The Capitals advance to the second round with a victory here at the Verizon Center today. Washington out-shot New York 13-6 in the first.

Green’s goal came on a Capitals power play. Brian McCabe went off for a trip at 5:52. A mad scramble in front of Henrik Lundqvist happened, and the puck arrived on the stick of Alexander Ovechkin. He faked, passed it across to Green, who shot it. It deflected at the side of the net on goal, where Dan Girardi was covering for an out of position Henrik Lundqvist, but could not hold the line. It was Green’s first playoff goal and Ovechkin’s third assist of the series. A huge scrum occurred afterwards, when Girardi had been poked between the legs in the time after the puck had slid across the line. Afterwards, John Tortorella and the Rangers received a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.

For the Rangers, it appears that there won’t be any lineup changes for Game 5. They’ve got to look at recent history for inspiration. Last year, Washington went ahead 3-1 in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with Montreal, only to see the Habs come all the way back and win Game 7 at the Verizon Center. The Rangers find themselves with that very same deficit today, but will have to overcome a devastating Game 4 defeat to do so. It’ll be Henrik Lundqvist in goal again.

We’re live from the Verizon Center for this one. I’ll be updating through warm-ups and then throughout the game and you can follow me on Twitter for instant updates. You can also check out Japers’ Rink and Blueshirt Banter for more info from the local perspectives.