Rangers Stun Capitals With a Scramble and a Slap Shot

Henrik Lundqvist had left his goal for a sixth attacker and was standing by the Rangers’ bench, glancing at the clock. There were 10 seconds left.

“I looked up and thought, ‘This is going to be tough,’ ” he said.

Moments later, the Garden exploded in joy.

With 6.6 seconds remaining, Brad Richards tied the score, 2-2, with a desperation goal, sending the game into overtime. The teams had barely caught their breath after an intermission when defenseman Marc Staal blasted a slap shot past two diving Capitals and goaltender Braden Holtby 1 minute 35 seconds into the extra session for a 3-2 victory that completed one of the most fantastic finishes in Rangers history.

Both goals came on the same power play, after Joel Ward was banished with a double minor for high-sticking Carl Hagelin with 22 seconds left in regulation.

It was quite a turnaround for the Rangers’ power play, which was an anemic 2 for 13 entering the game. The Rangers failed to produce a single shot on net in three previous man-advantages on Monday.

Now it is the Rangers who are in command, leading by 3-2 as the series shifts to Washington for Game 6 Wednesday.

“The last minute was incredible,” Staal said.

The Capitals were left in disbelief. “Nobody thought that was going to happen,” their captain, Alex Ovechkin, said.

He was not exaggerating.

Lundqvist was pulled with about a minute and a half left in regulation, and while the Rangers buzzed inside the Capitals’ zone and around Holtby’s net, only one shot got through to Holtby.

Ward then nicked Hagelin in the face, drawing blood — and an automatic double minor.

“It was an accident, an accidental high stick,” Capitals Coach Dale Hunter said. “They got a break. That’s what they call the breaks of hockey.”

Now the Rangers had a two-skater advantage for one last push. Michael Del Zotto’s shot from the point deflected wide and went to Ryan Callahan at the side of the net. Callahan took three short whacks at the puck, all of which Holtby stopped with his right pad.

But a fourth try was made by Richards, and it went under Holtby’s pad for the tying goal — his third of the series. Richards leapt into Callahan’s arms as the fans, grim-faced moments earlier, let out an ecstatic roar.

Staal’s winning goal came on the second half of the power play, with Ward still off. John Mitchell won the face-off back to Staal, whose shot nicked two diving Capitals — Matt Hendricks and Brooks Laich in the high slot — and sailed past Holtby.

Bedlam.

“Both guys came out, so I just wanted to get between them and hit it as hard as I can,” Staal said. “It wasn’t a set play or anything off the draw, just a good clean draw and guys went to the net and he couldn’t see it.”

Holtby agreed. “I didn’t see a thing,” he said.

Mitchell did not put a shot on net through the first nine games of the playoffs, but he has improved sharply since then, starting with the Rangers’ three-overtime victory in Game 3. Coach John Tortorella put him on the power play for several shifts, including the decisive one.

“I got the draw from Hendricks, and he kind of got tied up, and then a lane opened up for Staalsy to blast it,” Mitchell said after finishing 4-0 on face-offs. “That was kind of the plan, and it worked out.”

Mitchell admitted that the Rangers did not want to wait until 6.6 seconds were left on the clock.

“Next time, maybe we tie it with five minutes left so we’re not having a heart attack on the bench,” Mitchell said.

The Rangers outshot the Capitals by 38-18, but they fell behind when John Carlson scored on a power play at 3:20 of the third period.

Mike Rupp was off at the time on a hooking penalty drawn by Ward. Ward could have been a hero in this game, as he was when he scored the Game 7 overtime winner that beat the defending champion Boston Bruins in the first round. Instead he wound up the goat for his late, accidental penalty.

“It’s tough when you let the team down on a play like that,” Ward said.

The Rangers dominated the first period, outshooting the Capitals by 17-4 and emerging with a 1-0 lead.

Anton Stralman scored his first of the series and third of the playoffs.

But the Rangers have had plenty of dominant first periods since the beginning of March, and failed to press their advantage — one reason they came into Monday with 17 victories and 16 defeats in their previous 33 regular-season and playoff games.

They lost a lead again in the second period. The Capitals tied it at 8:15 when Laich fired the puck past a screened Lundqvist.

After Carlson made it 2-1 in the third, the Capitals came close to opening a two-goal lead when Nicklas Backstrom burst past defenseman Dan Girardi and into the clear. But Lundqvist got a piece of his shot, sending it off the crossbar. That helped set the stage for the thrilling finish.

“It’s a kick in the gut when you lose because it happens so quickly,” Tortorella said. “And it’s pretty exciting when you win.”

SLAP SHOTS

Brad Richards took eight shots Monday before his tying goal; five were blocked and three sailed wide. ... If the series goes seven games, winning a Stanley Cup will be problematic for either team. No N.H.L. team has won the Cup after playing 14 games in the first two rounds.