Sometimes, your best effort isn’t good enough. To quote play-by-play announcer John Forslund, “That’s hockey.”

The New York Rangers ran into a hot goalie last night. Despite playing their best game of the young season, they were shut out 1-0 by Charlie Lindgren and the Washington Capitals at 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue. Lindgren was brilliant in making 35 saves to stone the Rangers. The older brother of former Blueshirt Ryan Lindgren was particularly strong in the first two periods – stopping 13 shots apiece for 26 of his 35, with nine more coming in a stronger third by the Caps.

In failing to score a goal against Lindgren, the Rangers tied a record. They have been shut out in their first two home games, becoming the 10th team in NHL history to start the season in that fashion. They’ll look to avoid making even more history when they host Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow night.

Even more strange is that they’ve scored all 10 of their goals on the road in two victories over the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. Odder is that in each of the first four games, a Rangers goalie has allowed only one goal. Igor Shesterkin did it in his first three starts, including a shutout at Buffalo. On Sunday night, Jonathan Quick permitted one goal on 20 shots to become the hard luck loser.

The only goal he allowed came late in the second period to Rangers killer Anthony Beauvillier. Beauvillier moved around the net and into position to tip in an Alex Ovechkin shot pass for the game’s only goal with 6:16 remaining. While he got set, Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen vacated the area. With partner Braden Schneider’s attention turned to Ovechkin, Vaakanainen failed to switch onto Beauvillier, who had plenty of time to deflect home the Ovechkin feed.

Beauvillier has always killed the Rangers. Ever since he was a New York Islander, the gritty forward has had a knack for scoring backbreaking goals. In fact, he’s never scored more goals against an opponent. The goal was his 14th versus the Rangers. Updating the numbers, Beauvillier is up to 27 points in 35 career games, which of course is his best against any opponent. Fittingly, the goal was his first of the season, and third game-winner against the Blueshirts.

Facing a division rival that dominated them last season, the Rangers were the better team for the majority of the game. It was the opposite of how they played against the Caps last year. They skated faster and with more purpose. They established a forecheck, with the energy line of Sam Carrick, Adam Edstrom, and Matt Rempe again leading the way. They were hard on the puck and won most of the battles. They were strong in transition, creating high danger chances off the rush. It was exactly how they must play.

“I thought the team played extremely well, and that’s what I said to the guys after the game. For our coaching staff, we’re most concerned about how we play, how we win and how we lose. Sometimes, you can’t control whether the puck goes in the net or not. I thought from an effort standpoint, determination, our attitude — for me, this type of game is the kind of game that we’re trying to build. We had our looks, we had some great looks. They got some key saves at key times, give them credit… If we continue to play with that kind of an effort and that kind of focus and attention to detail, I think we’re going to win more games than we lose, that’s for sure,” a pleased Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters afterward.

In a dominant second frame, the Rangers created several chances to take the lead. However, Lindgren wouldn’t cooperate. Similar to how he played against them in 2023-24, when he went 2-1-0 with a 1.35 goals-against-average and .955 save percentage with a shutout, Lindgren was a brick wall in net. He made a few highlight reel saves, including committing highway robbery on Mika Zibanejad.

Following some strong defensive work from Alexis Lafreniere, he sent Artemi Panarin in on a two-on-one. With only Matt Roy back defending, Panarin patiently waited and send a perfect pass across for Zibanejad, whose one-timer was labeled. Instead, a diving Lindgren got across to make an acrobatic glove save to deny Zibanejad of a sure goal. He could only hang his head in disbelief.

One thing that makes Lindgren tough is that he’s an unorthodox goalie who catches with the right hand. In a league where most netminders catch left, both Caps goalies are unorthodox, with starter Logan Thompson also catching right. Shooters prefer to go to the same spots. Lindgren has had success against the Rangers due to his right glove. He improved to 4-1-0 versus the Rangers. In five starts, he’s only allowed six goals on 141 shots with two shutouts. Not bad for a backup who got the start on a back-to-back.

Later in the second, he turned away Panarin, who had a similar reaction after failing to score in his fourth consecutive game. Playing in a contract year, the 33-year-old Russian hasn’t found his stride yet. Two separate injuries kept him out of preseason. The skating is still there, but he hasn’t looked dominant. Panarin is also adjusting to playing with Zibanejad, who’s now the center on the big scoring line without Vincent Trocheck. While Zibanejad has continued to play well, leading the Rangers with seven shots last night, Panarin is still searching for that big game to get him going. His next chance will come against the Oilers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

When Zibanejad wasn’t testing Lindgren, the Blueshirts were getting a tremendous effort from the fourth line. The cohesive trio of Edstrom, Carrick, and Rempe spent some time in the Caps end. On one strong shift, Rempe sent a tricky shot from a tough angle in front that nearly led to a goal. The line finished with a 66.67 CF and created two high danger chances while allowing none. They were so effective due to Rempe’s noticeable improvement that Sullivan didn’t hesitate to send them out for a late shift down a goal in the third.

The biggest highlight came when Rempe caught Tom Wilson with a clean hit during a shift. He sent Wilson flying to the ice. A rarity for the Caps power forward, who usually is the one dishing them out.

The most effective line was centered by captain J.T. Miller. His line spent a lot of time on the attack. Miller and Will Cuylle were very effective with Conor Sheary on the forecheck. On one extended shift, Miller had two cracks at a rebound, but was unable to beat Lindgren. Miller, Cuylle, and Sheary combined for 10 shots and six high danger chances for to only one high danger chance against. They held a 9-4 edge in shots and had an expected goals percentage of 89.19.

If there was a difference in the third period, it was the Caps playing more aggressively. They activated their defensemen, which created more zone time and a few chances. Quick was strong when he had to be turning away seven shots. Jakob Chychrun was superb defensively. He stood up at the blue line and made several strong plays. He and John Carlson logged over 19 minutes at even strength.

The Rangers found it more difficult to gain access and generate quality chances. It took a while for them to force Lindgren to make some saves. When Quick was lifted for an extra attacker, Cuylle put a shot from the circle right on Lindgren, who saw it easily. A hustling Zibanejad prevented an empty netter. That allowed for one more final chance. But his shot was handled by Lindgren, who wasn’t having it.

Following an icing, the Rangers had one more crack at it. With time running down, Wilson made a diving block of a Panarin attempt, and cleared the zone.

Robertson Fares Well in Season Debut

In just his third career game, Matthew Robertson made his first appearance of the season for the Rangers. Taking the place of injured defenseman Carson Soucy, who was placed on injured reserve, Robertson fared well in his season debut.

With Sullivan opting to play Robertson with Will Borgen on the second pair, they actually had a strong game together. They both were over a 60 CF with Robertson finishing with a 67.74. He played a safe defensive game, and looked for offense when there were opportunities. Robertson had a shot and four attempts all at even strength (22 shifts for 18:08 TOI).

Miller Leads The Way on Faceoffs

The Rangers were particularly strong in the circle. They won 32-of-49 faceoffs. Miller led them by going 14-of-18. Carrick won 6-of-7 draws. Zibanejad went 8-and-6. No Cap was .500. Nic Dowd led them going 5-and-7.

Power Play Takes the Collar

There weren’t many chances. But the Rangers failed to capitalize on two power plays in the second period. After falling behind on the Beauvillier tally from Ovechkin, they drew two consecutive penalties. Neither of which they took advantage of.

Sheary was taken down by Wilson for the game’s first man-advantage. Despite the top unit getting some good looks, they were unable to solve Lindgren. The best chance came when Zibanejad was set up for a one-timer in the opposite circle. But Lindgren read the play and cheated to get over and make the save.

With Carrick drawing a minor on Beauvillier with 2:18 left, Sullivan had no choice but to go with his second unit. Despite moving the puck around nicely, they were unable to find any shooting lanes. The Caps were more aggressive on the penalty kill. That led to Noah Laba having a shot blocked and cleared. After registering four shots on the first power play, the Rangers got nothing done on the second. It was a wasted opportunity.