The Rangers looked like a team that was ready to take on the squad with the most goals in their division.
With an uphill battle of a show that looked them in the face, the Rangers began the climb with a 4-2 win over the mighty Capitals at Madison Square Garden Thursday night.
It is not lost to the Rangers that the rest of February will serve as a test of fire for the playoff berth in the loaded East. But head coach David Quinn wants his team to focus on one game at a time, and the Rangers went out for it and played as if the Capitals were the only team they thought of.
Behind two goals from Ryan Strome, the Rangers earned their first consecutive wins of the season by matching Washington’s heaviness across the boards and playing a strong 200-foot game for the full 60 minutes.
Pavel Buchnevich’s empty net proved to be the sum of the insurances and sealed the victory.
Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin kept a close eye on the record for most of the night, starting with a stop on a partial breakaway from Alex Ovechkin to start the game. The rookie coach, who finished with 31 stops, only gave up goals from Carl Hagelin, on a bouncing record at 18:57 of the second, and Ovechkin, on a scholarship in the middle of the third that made him a 3-2 match.
Ovechkin’s 709th goal in his career gave him the only possession of seventh place on the NHL’s all-time goal list.
Washington poured pressure after turning it into a one-goal game in both the second and third periods. Drawing a penalty to Brett Howden with 10 seconds left for the center frame, the Capitals had the advantage of starting the third.
But the Rangers extended their streak of blocked penalty kills, stifling Capitals ’four power plays to bring the unit to a perfect 13-on-13 in the last three games.
The Rangers had one of the most complete first periods of the season, with a 1-0 lead. Strome deflected a shot from Adam Fox at 1:41 and the Rangers managed to protect him, keeping up the pressure and chaining opportunity after opportunity.
Anthony Bitetto scored his first goal since November 2017 after attacking the net and finishing with a backhand shot at 9:15 of the second to put the Rangers 2-0 up. Kevin Rooney got the assist on the play, extending his streak of points to three games.