NEW YORK — The Washington Capitals have reached what they hope means the end of the line, not for them but for their postseason tormentors, a quick and speedy strike Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Eight times since 2008, the New York Rangers have faced elimination in midtown Manhattan, and eight times they have staved an early summer. Now, against the Metropolitan Division foe they bounced in seven games in both 2013 and 2012, the Rangers need a ninth victory to salvage their season.
The Capitals, meanwhile, sit in a relatively comfortable yet equally tenuous position. Ten times in the franchise’s history, they have taken a 3-1 lead into Game 5; only three times have they finished the series then and there. A loss Friday night would send them home to Verizon Center and increase the pressure to close in Game 6, with the possibility of a winner-take-all returning here next Wednesday, if necessary.
Still, Washington has at most three chances to dispatch the Presidents’ Trophy winners despite, in the estimation of its players and coach, not putting forth a complete effort all series.
“I think we’ve not played our game, and we need to play a full game if we’re going to have any chance of beating the Rangers,” Coach Barry Trotz said. “We need everybody and we haven’t had all our lines going, we haven’t had all our players going and that. We just need to play a more complete game with our whole group going at the same time. Right now we’ve been able to survive in the series with certain heroes and lines stepping up, but I think we need all four lines.”
The heroes have extended far beyond the team’s superstars, to include two rookies (Andre Burakovsky and Evgeny Kuznetsov), a defenseman (Karl Alzner) and a forward still enjoying the fruits of an offensive renaissance (Jay Beagle). Through seven postseason wins, seven different skaters have notched the game-winning goals, none of whom are named Alex Ovechkin (who, it should be noted, wore a massive ribbon on his lapel to the rink to honor the 70th anniversary of “Victory Day,” a Russian holiday marking the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union during World War II).
The Rangers, meanwhile, have been frustrated by the Capitals’ shot-blocking ability and stymied by, thus far, the stingiest postseason by a goaltender in NHL history. Ranked third during the regular season in goals per game, they have only mustered five goals in four games on Braden Holtby but, despite what the series score might suggest on paper, have a certain degree of confidence facing elimination at home.
“I was talking to my wife about it last night,” New York forward Tanner Glass said. “Everyone’s playing well I think. Both teams can say they’re playing well defensively and chances are tough to come by. When you do get one, you’ve got to put it in.”
So, did Glass believe the Eastern Conference semifinals could just as easily be titled in the Rangers’ favor, by the same 3-1 margin?
“It could be,” he said. “It’s a real tight series. Each game is really, really close.”
LINEUP
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin–Nicklas Backstrom–Joel Ward
Marcus Johansson–Evgeny Kuznetsov–Jason Chimera
Andre Burakovsky–Jay Beagle–Troy Brouwer
Curtis Glencross–Brooks Laich–Tom Wilson
Defensemen
Brooks Orpik–John Carlson
Karl Alzner–Matt Niskanen
Tim Gleason–Mike Green
Scratches
F Eric Fehr
F Michael Latta
GOALTENDING MATCHUP
Braden Holtby (6-3-1, 1.48 GAA, .950 SV%) vs. Henrik Lundqvist (5-4-0, 1.64 GAA, .939 SV%).
INJURIES
F Eric Fehr (upper body)
D John Erskine (neck)*
D Dmitry Orlov (wrist)**
*injured reserve
**long-term injured reserve
LINKS
NHL Scoreboard | Full playoff schedules and results | Statistics
Galleries from the Caps-Rangers series
Game 4 | Game 3 | Game 2 | Game 1
Galleries from the Caps-Islanders series
Game 7 | Game 6 | Game 5 | Game 4 | Game 3 | Game 2 | Game 1
Stories from the Caps-Rangers regular-season series
Dec. 23 | March 11 | March 29 | April 11
Stories from the Caps-Rangers playoff series
Game 4 | Game 3 | Game 2 | Game 1
Videos
Post Sports Live: Can the Capitals finish off the Rangers?
Post Sports Live: What is the Capitals’ playoff ceiling?
Homeless drummer lays beats for Capitals
Time-lapse shows workers prepping the ice at Verizon Center
More from the print edition
Barry Trotz: ‘There’s no glow here today’
Steinberg: Barry Trotz has the Caps playing playoff hockey
More from Capitals Insider
Troy Brouwer is doing ‘the little things’
Capitals happy with acquisition of Tim Gleason
Not enough in-game reps for Caps to practice power play
Winning without points from Ovechkin
Burakovsky honored after Game 4, but not for goals
Caps hold another one-goal lead in Game 4
One win from conference finals, Capitals know their work isn’t done
Caps, Nats hang out together after Game 4
More from the Bog
Redskins GM Scot McCloughan: Caps’ fan base ‘is just out of control — and I love it’
Ted Leonsis says he’s the ‘chief worrying officer’
More Caps from Fancy Stats
