How do you describe what just happened? In a word, awful. Brutal, disgusting and humiliating all come to mind. Forget for a second that Nicklas Backstrom’s hit on Dan Boyle caused him to cough up the puck. What the heck were Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan doing on Joel Ward’s game-winner with 1.3 seconds left? More to the point, why did Stepan go to Alex Ovechkin when McDonagh was on him? I’d love to hear his explanation.

Whether or not it should’ve been a penalty on Backstrom, it doesn’t matter now. On just a brilliant effort from their captain Ovechkin, the Capitals stunned the Rangers 2-1 to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal at MSG. Full credit to Ovechkin for not giving up on the play. He outskated McDonagh and fed Ward for a goal so heart breaking you wonder how the Rangers will respond in Game 2. They better get it or it’s trouble.

In all honesty, they didn’t play well enough for my liking. For two periods, they didn’t test Braden Holtby. There weren’t enough battles in front. He was able to see everything. Credit a stingy Caps defense led by Brooks Orpik and John Carlson. Orpik stifled Rick Nash, who had three quiet shots in 28 shifts (18:40). I’m in agreement with NBC’s Mike Milbury. Nash needs to elevate his level. He didn’t while Ovechkin did and that was the difference.

How this game isn’t in overtime I can’t explain. The Rangers finally showed urgency in the third. They forechecked better and got bodies in front of Holtby. Chris Kreider, who did nothing the first two periods finally had a couple of strong shifts. He nearly ran into Holtby after being shoved by Orpik but missed him. He also had a good redirect which Holtby got a piece of.

On a night where the top two lines weren’t good enough, it was the third scoring unit of Kevin Hayes, Carl Hagelin and Jesper Fast that tied the game. All game, they were the most effective. Especially the speedy Hagelin who was all over the ice. Hayes was hounded by the Caps throughout but kept battling as did Fast, who got just reward by getting the goal when a Hayes shot deflected off his leg past Holtby to tie it with 4:39 left in regulation.

It was a weird game. Even in that final minute, it felt like something was gonna happen. The Rangers had a good chance to score earlier but couldn’t with J.T. Miller unable to get his stick on a loose puck with a gaping net. Washington coach Barry Trotz had the Ovechkin line with Backstrom and Ward matched against Stepan, Kreider and Miller, who was more visible than his line mates. Even if he had a scary turnover when they still trailed.

The Caps did the smart thing with under 10 seconds left getting the puck deep. Backstrom closed hard on Boyle hitting him with a tough shoulder which freed the puck. I wouldn’t say it was directly from behind. But I wondered as it happened, ‘That could have been called.’ Next thing you know, Ovechkin made the play to Ward, who didn’t miss on Henrik Lundqvist as he did when he hit the goalpost earlier.

Of course, Alain Vigneault was hot on the Rangers bench. Who could blame him? It’s a excruciating way to lose. An uncalled penalty which allowed Ovechkin to set up Ward in front. Lundqvist was totally unprepared. But that’s beside the point. It was way too easy.

Overall, I thought the Rangers were sloppy. They coughed up the puck a lot and had some bad giveaways. Sure enough, they had 20. Way too many. You can’t do that against a opportunistic opponent like the Caps. Only Dan Girardi played well of all our D. Every other defenseman had trouble with Washington’s forecheck. Kevin Klein was okay but shaky in his end with a couple of bad giveaways. McDonagh wasn’t good either. Marc Staal struggled. Keith Yandle wasn’t a factor and passed up on shots again while having a couple of hiccups defensively. Boyle remains an enigma but he did compete hard one on one. His offense remains missing.

They just weren’t good enough. Even with outshooting the Caps 32-29, the Blueshirts can play a lot better and will need to starting Saturday at 12:30 PM. They’re facing a lot of pressure. Usually, they win the first game and drop the second. Now, they have to win the second just to earn a split before the series shifts to Washington. If it’s anything like tonight, it won’t be easy.

The start wasn’t a problem. The Rangers had the better of the play the first few shifts utilizing their speed to generate chances. Despite having an edge in shots 12-7 for the first period, they didn’t take advantage of an Orpik penalty. The power play got looks but again failed. Yandle’s reluctance to shoot isn’t helping. At some point, he has to take the shot. It’s way too predictable.

Unfortunately, the Caps didn’t misfire on their power play. Dominic Moore took an unnecessary holding minor with 2:34 left. Trotz started his second unit. After they went off, Ovechkin went to work. Taking full advantage of time and space the Rangers penalty kill gave him gaining easy access, he used Boyle as a screen firing a missile high short side past Lundqvist that came out so fast it was amazing. Carlson and Holtby got assists on Ovechkin’s third of the playoffs at 18:13.

Kreider took an ill advised high-sticking minor with 21 seconds remaining. That was not a good penalty. It put the Caps right back on the power play. The Rangers were able to kill it off but Ovechkin was dangerous throughout with six shots and also hitting the crossbar. He had too much room.

On the post game, Vigneault said their gap control must be better. He also had some harsh words indicating that his best players have to play like their best players. Interesting. He didn’t comment on the Backstrom hit and didn’t give any update on Boyle on whether he was injured.

Regarding the hit, McDonagh said he didn’t see it as it was such a fast play and before he knew it, the puck was in the back of the net. Bang bang. That quickly. Miller said he has to do a better job in front taking Ward. But that was really on Stepan, who admitted as such. When asked whether they can take some positives out of the game, he said they did some good things but obviously they’ll have to make adjustments.

During a good shift by the fourth line, Tanner Glass got his stick on Holtby who lost his mask and fell to the ice. It was hard to pickup initially because NBC SN went to break which made no sense. But the replays showed that it might’ve been intentional. The Caps didn’t like it. Tom Wilson went after Glass. Interestingly, following Ward’s late heroics, both fourth lines were out and Wilson challenged Glass. It didn’t amount to much with only matching roughs.

The damage was done. The Caps took home ice. Whether or not it was a penalty, ask refs Chris Rooney or Kelly Sutherland. I’m not discussing it. It’s not why they lost.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Jesper Fast, NYR (1st career goal, +1 in 19 shifts-14:49)

2nd Star-Joel Ward, WSH (scored game-winner with 1.6 seconds left in regulation)

1st Star-Alex Ovechkin, WSH (PPG-3rd of playoffs, assist, 6 SOG, +1 in 28 shifts-18:26)

Notes: According to Elias Sports Bureau, Ward became only the third player to ever score a game-winning goal in the postseason with less than two seconds left. He joins Jussi Jokinen and Bob Pulford. … Holtby finished with 31 saves while Lundqvist made 27 in defeat. … Moved up to the top line, Martin St. Louis had four shots including one good opportunity in front with a backhand padded away by Holtby. He was more noticeable than Nash, who was called “marshmallow soft” by Milbury during the second intermission. A harsh assessment but accurate. … Rangers controlled faceoffs going 34-for-61. Brassard (12-and-9), Stepan (9-and-6) and Moore (7-and-4) were all good. Jay Beagle was the Caps’ best going 7-and-3 while Backstrom struggled finishing 8-and-16. … In his first game on the fourth line, James Sheppard was okay in 16 shifts (11:02) with two hits.

Key Statistics

Giveaways WSH 13 (Niskanen 5) NYR 20 (Staal 5)

Hits WSH 32 (Backstrom, Wilson 5) NYR 34 (Klein 6)

Blocked Shots WSH 19 (Orpik 4) NYR 15 (McDonagh 3)

Shot Attempts WSH 60 NYR 65