Amid the chaos surrounding the Rangers over the past 48 hours, a former defenseman of theirs, Tom Poti, came back to bite them in the rear on Sunday afternoon at MSG, as the Washington Capitals handily beat the Blueshirts 5–3 to force Game 7 on Tuesday night in Washington.
Poti had a goal and three assists as the Washington defensemen led the charge with three goals in the first period.
The controversial Sean Avery was inserted back into the lineup after being suspended for Game 5. But his coach John Tortorella had to serve a one-game suspension after an altercation with a rowdy Caps fan in that same Game 5. “Torts” watched the game from the press box as assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld took the reigns behind the bench.
The Rangers were badly outplayed in the first period and their ace in the hole, goalkeeper Henrik Lundqvist, had to be yanked after the second period for the second game in a row.
Trailing 5–1 after two periods, the Rangers capitalized on a two-man advantage as Ryan Callahan scored his second of the series. He is one the few Rangers who has shown up along with young defenseman Mark Staal who added a late consolation goal.
In this series, the Rangers were supposed to have the edge defensively and in between the pipes, but Caps back-up goalie Simeon Varlamov has been stealing the show and the Caps’ big guns have now found their rhythm.
The big problem the Rangers always had was a lack of scoring punch. After six games, they’ve scored only 10 goals and been shut out twice. Meanwhile, the Caps have scored 17.
Highly paid stars Chris Drury and Scott Gomez have failed to deliver the goods and Russians Nikolai Zherdev and Nik Antropov have been invisible for long stretches.
Facing a 3–1 deficit after four games, the Caps have stormed back to force a seventh game. Last year, in the opening round of the playoffs, they did the same thing to the Philadelphia Flyers, only to lose Game 7 in OT.
With that experience from last year, and the momentum they’ve got going now, the Caps are strong favorites for Tuesday’s Game 7.
“We never gave up hope,” said Poti in an interview with NBC Sports after the game. When asked if it was nice to score against his old team, Poti responded happily, “Of course!”
With Alex Ovechkin scoring, hitting, and running riot on the Rangers, his whole team has forgotten about their poor start to the series. The Rangers will have to dig deep on Tuesday night and get the performance from Lunqvist that fans have come to expect if they want to win.
The Carolina Hurricanes took it to Marty Brodeur and the Devils Sunday night in Raleigh with a commanding 4–0 victory.
The Devils had no answer for Jordan Staal and Ray Whitney who scored three and four points respectively.
The Hurricanes were first to the puck and played with the desperation of a team on the brink of elimination.
Game 7 goes Tuesday at the Meadowlands.
Poti had a goal and three assists as the Washington defensemen led the charge with three goals in the first period.
The controversial Sean Avery was inserted back into the lineup after being suspended for Game 5. But his coach John Tortorella had to serve a one-game suspension after an altercation with a rowdy Caps fan in that same Game 5. “Torts” watched the game from the press box as assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld took the reigns behind the bench.
The Rangers were badly outplayed in the first period and their ace in the hole, goalkeeper Henrik Lundqvist, had to be yanked after the second period for the second game in a row.
Trailing 5–1 after two periods, the Rangers capitalized on a two-man advantage as Ryan Callahan scored his second of the series. He is one the few Rangers who has shown up along with young defenseman Mark Staal who added a late consolation goal.
In this series, the Rangers were supposed to have the edge defensively and in between the pipes, but Caps back-up goalie Simeon Varlamov has been stealing the show and the Caps’ big guns have now found their rhythm.
The big problem the Rangers always had was a lack of scoring punch. After six games, they’ve scored only 10 goals and been shut out twice. Meanwhile, the Caps have scored 17.
Highly paid stars Chris Drury and Scott Gomez have failed to deliver the goods and Russians Nikolai Zherdev and Nik Antropov have been invisible for long stretches.
Facing a 3–1 deficit after four games, the Caps have stormed back to force a seventh game. Last year, in the opening round of the playoffs, they did the same thing to the Philadelphia Flyers, only to lose Game 7 in OT.
With that experience from last year, and the momentum they’ve got going now, the Caps are strong favorites for Tuesday’s Game 7.
“We never gave up hope,” said Poti in an interview with NBC Sports after the game. When asked if it was nice to score against his old team, Poti responded happily, “Of course!”
With Alex Ovechkin scoring, hitting, and running riot on the Rangers, his whole team has forgotten about their poor start to the series. The Rangers will have to dig deep on Tuesday night and get the performance from Lunqvist that fans have come to expect if they want to win.
Devils Going 7
The Carolina Hurricanes took it to Marty Brodeur and the Devils Sunday night in Raleigh with a commanding 4–0 victory.
The Devils had no answer for Jordan Staal and Ray Whitney who scored three and four points respectively.
The Hurricanes were first to the puck and played with the desperation of a team on the brink of elimination.
Game 7 goes Tuesday at the Meadowlands.
