New York Rangers Vs. Washington Capitals, NHL Playoffs 2012: Complete Series Coverage

UPDATE: Dale Hunter has stepped down as head coach in Washington.

He’s been labeled a coach in over his head.

... because hockey is probably going to decide this thing.

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In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, one team was characterized by their lack of cohesion, over-reliance on “star” players, a good deal of high angle shots, and only had a chance of victory because of an insane goaltending performance.

To his credit, Henrik Lundqvist did everything short of walking to center ice and firing shots on Holtby himself in an attempt to close out the series, making a number of highlight reel saves. Scissor-kick stops, seemingly blind reaction blocks, and last second glove flares were on frequent display, but the disjointed offense, particularly with the man advantage, wasted the effort.

That’s not stopping them from promoting Eastern Conference Finals tickets, though.

It’s one thing to sell the tickets, which most teams must do before clinching a spot in the next round simply for logistical reasons. It’s another thing entirely to send out an email to likely tens of thousands of people -- if not more than that -- promoting tickets to games that are far from a reality at this point.

The Capitals tied the series with a 3-2 win in Game 4 at home, but now the series will return to New York. That game followed an epic Game 3, which the Rangers won in triple overtime. Home ice hasn’t been a huge advantage in this series as both teams have won on the road. New York is 3-3 at home in the playoffs after compiling a 27-12-2 home record during the regular season. Washington has played well on the road in the playoffs, winning four of their six road games.

The two teams will face off Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network.

Game 5 will be played Monday at Madison Square Garden.

We have full coverage of Game 4 between the Capitals and Rangers in our StoryStream. For more on the Capitals, check in with Japers’ Rink, and for more on the Rangers, check in with Blueshirt Banter.

A hit was levied, and the legality of that hit was questionable and controversial.

Ovechkin was given a two-minute minor penalty for charging on the play, a Rangers power play the Capitals killed off relatively easily. It’s really tough to tell where the principal point of contact is on this hit. It looks as though it could be the head or the shoulder or some hybrid of the two, but there is definitely contact with the head.

We’re sure the Capitals and Rangers could use a few extra days off after playing almost the equivalent of two full hockey games Wednesday night, but they have to take the ice again today for Game 4.

Here’s how to catch today’s Game 4:

More great numbers for the NHL on the ratings front.

All in all, 1.85 million people tuned into Game 3 on NBC Sports Network in the United States. It’s the second-highest rated game on cable in the U.S. since the lockout, second only to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals between Boston and Tampa Bay in 2011.

They wear red and cheer for the Capitals there, and fans sat on the edge of their seats for nearly five hours watching Game 3, only to be disappointed by a crushing loss. It’s tough to deal with games like this, and everybody does it differently.

Some fans just shake their heads in disgust, others smack the glass with an extremely sad hand, and some opt to make obscene gestures towards the opposing team. The latter has the largest comedic pay off, of course and that’s where Del Zotto and Girardi get involved.

WASHINGTON -- It’s not just that the Washington Capitals lost Game 3 in triple overtime that makes Wednesday night’s marathon defeat so frustrating for them. It’s that they had so many chances to close this one out well before the clock struck midnight and the calendar flipped to Thursday. It’s that this was a game they should have won.

“Frustration for me,” Brouwer said after the game, reflecting on the wide-open net that had stared him in the face earlier in the evening. “I was in tight, I was trying to get it up and it just rolled over my stick. I’ve gotta at least get it on net, give it a chance to go in the net.”

It’s never fun when you get home from a long day at work to find that your dogs have made a complete mess, getting into the trash or ripping up a shoe or any other number of things that dogs do when they get bored without you around.

We have full coverage of Game 3 between the Capitals and Rangers in our StoryStream. For more on the Capitals, check in with Japers’ Rink, and for more on the Rangers, check in with Blueshirt Banter.

That was awesome. Not only did it one-up a player who was acting like kind of a jerk, it showed how calm and poised he is under the pressure. I mean, a flinch could have been embarrassing, but Holtby didn’t budge.

Despite all that, though, his mom made an apparence on TV Wednesday evening. She’s kind of the best.

But hey, that’s overtime in the playoffs. You know that there’s a chance that puck hits you in the face every time you go down to block a shot, and Boyle paid the price this time. Nothing a few stitches and a trip to the dentist can’t fix up, though.

The goal horn guy did his job a bit prematurely on the play, although to be fair, the confusion inside the building was sort of evident. The referee closest to the play never signaled goal, but the confusion was understandable, even if it was clear from watching the play either live or on television that it hit the post without crossing the goal line.

We have full coverage of Game 3 between the Capitals and Rangers in our StoryStream. For more on the Capitals, check in with Japers’ Rink, and for more on the Rangers, check in with Blueshirt Banter.

We have full coverage of Game 3 between the Capitals and Rangers in our StoryStream. For more on the Capitals, check in with Japers’ Rink, and for more on the Rangers, check in with Blueshirt Banter.

We have full coverage of Game 3 between the Capitals and Rangers in our StoryStream. For more on the Capitals, check in with Japers’ Rink, and for more on the Rangers, check in with Blueshirt Banter.

The truth, however, may be a little more complex.

Meanwhile, Hunter’s forward assignments seem like a slowly-building source of tension between the interim head coach and some of the highest paid players in the NHL.

We have full coverage of Capitals vs. Rangers Game 2 in our StoryStream. For more on the Caps, check with Japers’ Rink, and for more on the Rangers, check with Blueshirt Banter.

We have full coverage of Capitals vs. Rangers Game 1 in our StoryStream. For more on the Caps, check with Japers’ Rink, and for more on the Rangers, check with Blueshirt Banter.

No. 7 Washington Capitals at No. 1 New York Rangers

7:30 p.m. ET -- Game 2, Eastern Conference Semifinals | Rangers lead, 1-0

National TV: NBC Sports Network, CBC, RDS

For complete coverage of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, stick with SB Nation’s NHL hub. You can find team-by-team coverage from our network of hockey blogs.

Here’s the info on how to catch Monday’s game:

He was not the only blueliner who put his team in a bad position, however.

Both made mistakes which lead directly to goals. The only difference is that the Capitals’ offense was unable to cover Green’s errors while Staal’s transgressions will mostly be glossed over in the wake of the 3-1 victory.