Copyright Getty Images/Kathy Willens

Derek Stepan scored a power play goal. Let’s just examine this for a second. An actual power play goal was scored helping the Rangers defeat the Capitals 2-1 at Madison Square Garden.

This rare occurrence took place in the third period of a tie game. The formula was rather simple. Brad Richards won an offensive draw to Mike Del Zotto. Del Zotto passed for Stepan who finished the play. All it took was seven seconds. Amazing stuff.

It added up to the Blueshirts’ fourth win in five. Counting the shootout loss to the Islanders, they’ve taken nine of a possible 10 points improving to 8-5-1. They’re currently seventh in the East with 17 points. Considering the slow start, we’ll take it. But it hardly means we should be ecstatic. They can play better. The defense is still shaky and the offense up and down.

After all the hoopla, Rick Nash played and Chris Kreider sat out. It looks like the organization prefers to send Kreider back to Connecticut and let him work on his game. John Tortorella feels more confident in J.T. Miller, who’s shown composure.

The problem is Darroll Powe left Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury following a collision with Matt Hendricks. It took place during the second period. Both players collided at center ice with Powe getting the worst of it. He was down for a couple of minutes before being helped off the ice by Arron Asham and Stepan.

It might be a concussion. Hopefully, that’s not the case. The Rangers have today off and then host the Canadiens tomorrow. If Powe can’t go, does Tortorella keep Kreider up? It makes more sense to plug Kreider instead of Stu Bickel. I’m not sure what they’ll decide.

One of the noticeable differences in their win over Washington was the team’s willingness to shoot the puck. They severely outplayed the Caps in the first period, outshooting them 20-8. Despite that, a Marian Gaborik turnover led to John Carlson putting the Caps ahead 1:19 in. Following a Henrik Lundqvist stop on Mike Ribeiro, the defense never recovered. Eventually, Eric Fehr and Ribeiro combined to set up Carlson, who wired his second top shelf.

Undeterred, the Rangers took it to a shaky Cap D that was without Mike Green. Tom Poti dressed in his place. The Caps handed them three power plays. As usual, they couldn’t cash in. Braden Holtby was sharp, making several key stops. He stopped all 20 in the first en route to 38 saves. That included a denial on Jeff Halpern, who was splendid defensively. He and Ryan Callahan had a great penalty kill shift, forcing Holtby to come up big.

Even though they controlled the first, the Rangers were still sloppy. Defensive breakdowns could’ve put them behind two if not for Lundqvist. He was strong making 27 saves. The second was better. They played a cleaner game and got the game tied thanks to their hottest player. Carl Hagelin did it again. Off some strong work from playmaker Rick Nash, he deflected home a perfect feed from Ryan McDonagh for his fifth goal in the last four games. He continues to excel. The little big man hustles every shift.

The Rangers did a solid job killing all four Washington power plays. Alex Ovechkin had his chances but couldn’t find the back of the net. He is much more effective on the left side on the man-advantage. It allows him to get his shot off quicker. I have no clue why Adam Oates insists on playing him on right wing. He’s not Ilya Kovalchuk and the Caps aren’t the Devils.

On their fourth power play, they finally Capitalized. No pun intended.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Matt Gilroy, NYR (3 SOG-played well in 8 shifts-10:48)
2nd Star-Rick Nash, NYR (assist-9th of season, game high 8 SOG-playmaker)
1st Star-Carl Hagelin, NYR (6th goal, 4 SOG-Haggin’ It)