Mac Delivers: Ryan McDonagh is mobbed by teammates Derek Stepan and Jesper Fast after his overtime winner kept alive the Rangers season.
AP Photo by Julie Jacobson/Getty Images
They’re still alive and ticking. The Rangers lived to fight another day by rallying late to stun the Caps in overtime 2-1 at a raucous MSG. Chris Kreider’s tying goal with 1:41 left in regulation sent the building into bedlam. Ryan McDonagh’s first career playoff overtime goal at 9:37 of sudden death won Game 5 in dramatic fashion.
The late heroics allowed the Blueshirts to stave off elimination. By never giving up and doing it the hard way, they improved to 9-0 in their last nine elimination games at home. It looked like it was in serious jeopardy when a bad Keith Yandle pinch led directly to a Caps two-on-none with Curtis Glencross having his rebound carom back and chipping the puck over an outstretched Henrik Lundqvist for a 1-0 lead with 9:06 remaining.
They trailed despite playing well enough. The different to that point was the sensational play of Caps goalie Braden Holtby. As he’s done throughout the tightly contested series, he made some clutch stops including denying Martin St. Louis twice of sure goals off great set ups. His ridiculous glove save off a Rick Nash feed from behind the net in the second period was enough to make me wonder if they’d ever beat him again. Holtby finished with 41 saves.
Lundqvist was just as good making 28 saves. None were bigger than a right pad denial of a dangerous Evgeny Kuznetsov chance with two and a half minutes left. Kuznetsov used his blistering speed to outhustle our D to a loose puck and was in but his backhand was thwarted by Lundqvist who also held the right post and stopped a rebound.
Unable to solve Holtby, it looked like the Rangers would fall short. Even with Lundqvist only permitting eight goals in five games, it seemed like they would never score. To their credit, they kept pushing. The key sequence came when a Caps clear fell short of icing. Astonishingly, that allowed Yandle to make a good bank pass to Derek Stepan at the Caps blueline. Caught in a change, Stepan carried the puck and then spun off the D and made a great drop for a quick Kreider one-timer that finally beat Holtby to tie the game.
On the goal, he wasn’t screened. But there were players in front and Kreider made a perfect shot inside the far goalpost. That’s what it took to finally get one by him. Credit Stepan for making a great read. Earlier in the period, Kreider set him up after a great forecheck. But Stepan missed wide. He stuck with it in a big way.
”The outcome speaks for itself,” Kreider said after scoring his big goal that saved the season. ”It’s the kind of game that sheds a few years off your life, though. It’d be nice if we can pop one in early, take the pressure off of Hank, off our ‘D,’ off ourselves, off our fans, off our coaches.”
Before the teams reached OT, there were a couple of close calls at both ends. Lundqvist was forced into a difficult stop on Jason Chimera off a Kuznetsov set up. As time wound down, Holtby had to deal with a tricky backhand from Dominic Moore. That’s the kind of effort both teams gave.
In sudden death, the Rangers were a little tentative at the start. From our seats in Section 419, you could tell they were feeling the pressure. And why not. One mistake is all it would take for it to end. But it never came. Despite some early Caps zone time, Lundqvist made two stops and the defense never buckled.
A jubilant Rangers celebrate their Game 5 2-1 overtime win over the Caps.
AP Photo by Kathy Willens/Getty Images
Prior to McDonagh’s heroics, a nervous fan screamed out “‘Please get to the 10-minute mark.'” That explains how tense it was in the stands. No one wanted to go home.
It was a strong play by rookie Jesper Fast that caused a Caps turnover inside their zone. A hard forecheck resulted in him stealing the puck and passing across for Stepan at the left circle. Instead of shooting, he quickly dropped for McDonagh, whose shot deflected off Tim Gleason’s glove by Holtby for the exciting OT winner.
”It’s a good sign for us that we found a way to win this game under immense pressure,” McDonagh said after finally getting his clutch shot to go for his first point of the series.
”It was passed to Stepan and it looked like he was going to shoot it,” Holtby said. ”I lost him a bit with bodies in front. I saw that he dropped it back and don’t know where it went. I heard it hit a stick and then that was it.”
When he scored, my section went nuts. Everyone was mobbing each other. It was similar on Kreider’s tying goal. Our section was loud all game and never wavered despite it looking lost. The building was alive throughout and really helped the Rangers out. I’ll bet our players appreciated it.
During warm ups, both my brother and I talked about the game. He said he wasn’t too nervous. I felt similarly until the first period remained scoreless. We both felt they needed to jump on the Caps. Even with 16 shots including some good opportunities, they couldn’t beat Holtby. On one glorious chance, he made an unreal save to rob St. Louis on the doorstep.
The Caps got better as the period went on. They tested Lundqvist, who was up to the challenge denying all 13 shots. They also had the benefit of two power plays to the Rangers’ one. Their best chance came when Mike Green was all alone but Lundqvist made a sliding pad save to deny him.
The second was mostly Rangers with them holding a 12-5 edge. They continued to attack at every turn pinching the D. But as usual, the Caps limited most of their second opportunities. Holtby made the save of the game when he flat out stoned St. Louis. Off a Derick Brassard faceoff win, the puck was worked to Nash behind the net and in one motion he dished for a wide open St. Louis, who from 15 feet went high glove only for an aggressive Holtby to grab it like a cat. Unbelievable.
Every Ranger forechecked hard. The new fourth line featuring J.T. Miller with Tanner Glass and James Sheppard had a few good shifts. For all the flak Glass got during the season, he’s been consistent in the postseason. He hasn’t taken a bad penalty and has delivered clean hard hits while even getting chances. Amazingly, it was his shot that caromed off Holtby right to Brassard with a wide open net. But Brassard missed. I don’t know how. Green dove but it didn’t look to hit his stick.
The Caps nearly went ahead with a couple of minutes left. Matt Niskanen’s high shot went in but ref Kevin Pollock immediately waved it off due to Joel Ward interfering with Lundqvist. Basically, it was incidental contact. But seeing replays, it was close.
The frustration continued into the third. When your team is facing elimination in a scoreless game against a hot goalie, you’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop. That came when Kevin Klein had his shot blocked. Yandle made a poor read pinching. With all three forwards caught deep, there was no one back. Once Tom Wilson backchecked and Matt Niskanen pushed the puck off the boards out to Glencross, it became a nightmare.
Somehow, another Caps support player had put them in front with under 10 minutes left in the Rangers season. Glencross, who was a healthy scratch for a game in the first round had given them a one-goal lead. You knew they were going to sit back and just try to protect it. Considering how they’ve executed, it looked bleak.
Even with the Rangers applying pressure, the minutes and seconds ticked off fast. Before you knew it, there was under three to go. When Kuznetsov slipped around, I feared the worst. But Lundqvist wasn’t ready to go home yet.
”We are still alive,” he told Pierre McGuire at the winning bench. ”Being in their shoes, we’ve been there. Going home now there is a lot of pressure for them. I know for sure they don’t want to come back here for another game. So we’ll try to use that to our advantage.”
As bad as Yandle’s been, he made a great read using the boards to head man Stepan which caught the Caps in a change. With them still scrambling, Stepan passed back for Kreider who buried it. It was like the whole building breathed a sigh of relief. Like thank God it’s going to overtime. Then, the thoughts are please win.
Credit Fast for forcing a turnover and having the presence to find Stepan, who changed the shot taking it away from the Caps shot blocking. McDonagh finally got a clean look and won it.
Now, it’s onto Game 6 at Verizon Center. The game will start at 7 PM Sunday. For the Rangers to win, they’ll need to come with the same effort. As Lundqvist noted, the Caps play well at home and feed off their crowd. They don’t want to come back for Game 7. So, the Rangers must ramp it up even more. The pressure’s on the Caps. It should be interesting.
BONY 3 Stars:
3rd Star-Braden Holtby, WSH (41 saves incl. 28/28 first 2 periods-matched Lundqvist again)
2nd Star-Ryan McDonagh, NYR (scored at 9:37 of OT-1st career OT winner, 4 blocked shots, +2 in 31 shifts-25:12-blanketed Ovechkin with partner Dan Girardi)
1st Star-Derek Stepan, NYR (2 primary assists, 4 SOG, +2 in 32 shifts-25:01-by far his best game of the series)
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Derek
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