The New York Rangers earned a place in the NHL Eastern Conference finals when Derek Stepan scored in overtime to secure a 2-1 win over Washington on Wednesday and a third successive victory to snatch the best-of-seven series 4-3.
Stepan’s wrist-shot from the left wing after he won a face-off capped the comeback both on the night and in the series.
“We have a good group that keeps their wits about them and keeps calm,” Stepan said. “There is no real panic. We just see what happens and we just play hockey.”
Photo: AP
The Rangers are the only team to win a series after trailing 3-1 in successive years, having done the same thing to Pittsburgh in the second round last year.
“It’s a very special win,” said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who made 35 saves and became the third goalie to win six Game 7s, joining Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur.
New York, who had the NHL’s best record this season, next face Tampa Bay for a spot in the Stanley Cup finals, where the Rangers lost to Los Angeles last spring. The series begins on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Alex Ovechkin scored in the first period for Washington, who have lost five Game 7s in as many tries when leading a series 3-1. Kevin Hayes tied it for the Rangers in the second.
Although the Rangers were badly outplayed early in overtime, Lundqvist stood tall with eight saves as the Capitals could not find that winning touch. That is something the Rangers seem to own in Game 7s — New York have won six in a row, including the past three series against Washington.
“It’s hard to really explain,” said Dan Girardi, whose shot from the point led to Stepan’s winner. “We were down, and it looked like we were down and out, and we found a way to crawl back in this series and win one game at a time. We knew coming into this barn in Game 7 anything could happen and it went down to the wire.”
It was the Rangers’ fourth overtime win in as many tries this year, all by 2-1 scores.
It was a cruel finish for Capitals goalie Braden Holtby, who was superb all series and made 37 saves on Wednesday.
“Great series. It was fun to be a part of, obviously not fun to be on the losing side,” Holtby said. “We left it all out there. I don’t think there was one guy who wasn’t committed. That’s life sometimes.”
The Capitals were quicker to the puck than the generally faster Rangers in the first period, when Lundqvist was much busier than Holtby, making 14 saves.
The difference through 20 minutes was that Washington’s top goal-scorer connected on his best chance, while New York’s did not.
Ovechkin, who scored 53 times to lead the league, somehow got wide open in the slot after the Capitals won a face-off and worked the puck off the boards. His wrist-shot beat Lundqvist to the glove side.
Late in the period, the Rangers’ Rick Nash, who trailed Ovechkin by 11 goals during the season, got free on a breakaway. He tried to deke Holtby and go through the legs, but his backhander was stopped as the fans lamented a missed opportunity.
The Rangers’ power play tied it in the second period. Tireless defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who played 29 minutes, kept in a clearing attempt at the right point and passed to J.T. Miller. His cross-ice feed to a cutting Hayes was perfect and Hayes put it past Holtby.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB