Rangers Vs. Capitals Game 7: New York Wins, 2-1, Sets Date With NJ

We’re not sure of the real explanation because the referee forgot to turn his mic on while explaining things to the Madison Square Garden crowd, but there seem to be two possibilities:

- The old “intent to blow” rule. The ref thought the puck was covered, and even though he didn’t blow his whistle, he had intended to and just couldn’t do it quickly enough. No goal.

Can the Capitals keep up the pressure? It’ll be interesting to see how Dale Hunter works his players in the remainder of this third period as they try to grab the lead.

I honestly expected the Capitals to come out swarming in the third, but the Rangers haven’t allowed them to sustain much pressure.

There have been five faceoffs in the first 6:13 of the third. The Capitals have won just one of them, and it was in the neutral zone. New York has won all three faceoffs at either end of the ice — two in the Capitals’ zone, one in their own zone.

In fact, the goalie duel is so even that Lunqvist and Holtby have 19 saves apiece to this point. There have been 39 shots between the two teams, including many on rebounds and second efforts, but the goalies have been simply outstanding. There were some jaw dropping moments in the second period. Of course, that’s how it’s been all series.

The period was a complete dead heat. There were no penalties, no goals and each team had its stretches of dominating the puck to no avail. The Caps likely need a power play to break through against Lundqvist, but regardless, the third period figures to be among the best 20 minutes of hockey this season.

DJ Steve Porter is best known for his Allen Iverson “Press Hop” remix, but he’s since gone far beyond that. Now, he’s apparently on the payroll of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and his latest work? A remix of John Tortorella’s press conferences.

It aired on CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada before Game 7.

It’s true that a goaltender can steal a game for his club in the playoffs, but it seems that in a tight-checking series like this one has been, it’s silly to lean on just one player. Just as it’s silly to say Lundqvist has failed to beat the Capitals in two straight playoff appearances. No, the Rangers have.

It’s a team game more so at this time of the year than any other and, if New York is going to advance past Washington this time, they’re going to need more than just Lundqvist leading them there. And if they lose again, it’s hardly an indictment of Lundqvist’s Vezina-caliber play this season.

Here’s the lineup for the Rangers, via the Bergen Record:

And for the Capitals, via the Washington Times:

Holtby said that as a goalie, Game 7 won’t be any harder or easier and while it’s always the same circumstances in the crease, he’s learned to control his emotions over the past few years. It may be nice and cool on the outside, but when the puck drops at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night, the Caps’ season will almost certainly hinge on their rookie between the pipes.

The Washington Capitals dropped Game 5 of their series against the New York Rangers in heartbreaking fashion, giving up game-tying and game-winning goals less than two minutes apart on a major penalty power play. They bounced back in Game 6, with Brayden Holtby putting together a great performance in a 2-1 win that forced Game 7. On Saturday night, the two teams meet at Madison Square Garden, where they will play for the right to play the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference finals.

The home team has won each of the last two games in the series, but home ice advantage doesn’t seem to matter much in this series. Both teams got road splits in the first four games, and the Capitals led until the final seven seconds of their last game at MSG.

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

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