After losing in such ugly fashion, it’s hard to believe. I’m so accustomed to seeing the Rangers defend better than they did tonight. Simply put, they didn’t play till the final buzzer and it cost them dearly.

Joel Ward’s goal with 1.3 seconds left which gave the Capitals a stunning 2-1 win to take Game 1 at MSG is one that’ll be replayed until Saturday afternoon at 12:30 PM. The Rangers must respond to their first adversity of the postseason. They’ll have to play with more urgency than they showed tonight waiting till the third period before Jesper Fast tied the game with 4:39 left.

Let’s put down some random thoughts from Game 1:

-Giveaways. They were way too sloppy. The Rangers had 20 giveaways. That’s not a misprint. You had instances where Ryan McDonagh and Kevin Klein passed the puck right to Caps only to be bailed out by Henrik Lundqvist. The only defenseman who played well was Dan Girardi. No coincidence he had zero.

-A question for Alain Vigneault. Why would he have Dan Boyle out in the final minute of a tie game and not Girardi, who forms a potent tandem with McDonagh? It made about as much sense as having Boyle out for Alex Ovechkin’s power play rocket that Henrik Lundqvist still hasn’t found. Not the best deployment by AV.

-It wasn’t that the Caps played great but they were tough defensively and had great gap control. Their forecheck also caused problems. The Ovechkin line had a big night factoring in on both goals. They were way better than the Rangers’ top unit with Derick Brassard and Martin St. Louis getting chances while Rick Nash stayed on the perimeter. One goal in six postseason games for the Big Nashty. But who’s counting?

-Vigneault’s words about his “best players” were accurate. There were too many passengers. I thought St. Louis was fine on the top line. You don’t expect Derek Stepan to make such a huge mistake on the winner just as you never expect McDonagh to get beat by Ovechkin, who made a great play.

-That third line was great. It’s obvious that Kevin Hayes, Carl Hagelin and Fast have something going. They were effective during their shifts pinning the Caps D in and eventually creating the Rangers’ lone goal. Btw…give Boyle credit for a good pinch which caused a Cap turnover that led to Hayes’ shot which went off Fast and in.

-So according to some fools, “Ovi sucks!” Really? I don’t think he paid too much attention. He was too busy scoring a goal and assist while dominating and leading like a captain who’s hungry to finally help his team get past Round 2. Ovechkin did more in one period than Evgeni Malkin did in five games last round.

-Braden Holtby was good but never had to be great. The Rangers eventually got more traffic as the game went on. One of their best chances came late in the second when Brassard just missed on the doorstep. They also missed some other opportunities with J.T. Miller blowing two and Chris Kreider firing wide.

-Mats Zuccarello. You knew it was coming. They definitely missed him. He plays with such edge and smarts that of course they missed him. He’s so effective on the forecheck using his speed and creativity while also getting his nose dirty. Not having Zucc hurts. The Rangers are just gonna have to find a way to step up. Miller, Hagelin and Kreider are candidates.

-Brooks Orpik had a mammoth game for the Caps. He was all over Nash taking his space away. He didn’t let him breathe. Nash only had an assist in the Rangers’ seven-game comeback win over the Pens last year matched up against the same rough tough defenseman. Right now, Orpik’s making the Caps look pretty smart for investing so much in him and ex-Pen Matt Niskanen. Their D is a lot harder to play against.

-The Nicklas Backstrom hit. It’s one of those that you hate seeing decide a game as big as this one. What if they had just blown the play dead? I know they can’t do that. It happens so fast that maybe that’s why the play continued and Ovechkin set up Ward for the crusher. The refs have a hard job. But we’ve seen some glaring examples of the Caps getting away with controversial hits. None bigger than Ovechkin plowing over Islander defenseman Thomas Hickey from behind. No call. You can’t make it up.

-That said, that’s not why the Rangers lost. They weren’t hard enough on the puck and didn’t play a full 60 minutes. They better put their hard hats on for Game 2.