NHL Thursday: Capitals beat Rangers in final seconds, Ducks roast Flames

The Rangers escaped penalty trouble early, as Washington failed to capitalize on two power plays in the first period. In fact, neither team scored on the man advantage at all in this contest.

The Rangers pushed back in the third period, but Holtby denied them each time and the Capitals eked out a major victory.

And boy, did he ever.

With the battle knotted at 1-1 and seemingly destined for overtime, Ward scored the game-winner with less than two seconds left in regulation to give the Caps a win and strip New York of its home ice advantage. The Blueshirts had tied the game several minutes earlier -- soon after Ward hit iron -- and it appeared as if these Metropolitan Division rivals would be in for a long overtime fight. But the wily veteran, who’s potted a number of clutch goals in his career, had other plans.

Less than three minutes later, Maroon positioned himself in front of the crease and tipped home a Ryan Getzlaf attempt for the eventual game-winner.

Perry’s first goal of the evening came 2:13 into the second period. The 29-year-old gained control behind Calgary’s net, moved into shooting position without any defensive pressure and had little trouble finding twine. His second mark came on a third period power play, as did Getzlaf’s tally.

It seemed as if Fast’s tally would send the game to overtime. But in the waning moments of the third period, Ward positioned himself in front of the net, received a crisp pass from Ovechkin and scored just in time to steal home ice advantage away from the Rangers.

1. This series is shaping up to be a fantastic goalie battle

As the overhead angle shows, Ward’s shot crossed the goal line with plenty of time to spare.

But hockey isn’t played on paper; it’s a beautifully unpredictable sport, one that doesn’t always make sense. So here we are, in the second round of the playoffs, and the Flames -- picked by most to be a basement dweller -- are 12 victories away from winning it all.