PREVIEW: Rangers @ Capitals,

GameFlow Preview: Rangers vs Capitals

By David Kolb

LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS AT 12:30 PM ON MSG

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RANGERS		CAPITALS
22-14-4	Record	30-7-3
48 Points	Points	63 Points
15-5-1 (Home)	Home/Road Record	15-4-2 (Road)
Won 1	Streak	Won 2
Mats Zuccarello (31 Points)	Leading Scorer	Evgeny Kuznetsov / Nicklas Backstrom (37 Points)
19.3%	Power Play %	25.4%
80.5%	Penalty Kill %	84.6%

This afternoon, the Rangers host the Metropolitan Division-leading Washington Capitals for a matinee at Madison Square Garden. This will be the third of five games the two clubs will play this season, and the third and final matchup at The Garden this season, as the teams have split the first two contests of the season series. The Rangers begin play at 22-14-4 following their dominating 6-2 win over the Dallas Stars Tuesday. The Caps, meanwhile, sit first in the Metropolitan Division with a 30-7-3 record after skating past the Islanders, 4-1, on Thursday in Brooklyn.


Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh has gone five games without a point. However, he has been fantastic defensively, and in his past four games he's earned a plus-5 rating. The All-Star defenseman has scored five goals with 12 assists for 17 points, and has averaged 22:54 of ice time this season, including skating 25-plus minutes in three of his past five contests. The Ranger rearguard will be charged with keeping Washington captain Alex Ovechkin in check today, which is no easy task. Ovie scored a goal Thursday in Brooklyn against the Islanders, giving him 22 this season, and currently has 35 points in 39 games. Ovechkin has registered four goals in his past five games and is a plus-6 in that stretch.

• There is no question that the Blueshirts play better when Rangers center Derek Stepan is on top of his game. Tuesday, the alternate captain seemed to have snapped out of his slump, scoring two goals versus the Stars. He will look to build on those two goals today versus the Caps, despite not scoring in the first two tilts against Washington. Stepan currently holds eight goals and seven assists for 15 points in 30 games.
  

• Caps center Nicklas Backstrom scored an empty-net goal and added an assist in Thursday’s win over the Islanders. He comes to The Garden with two goals and three assists in his past four games and has 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points in 37 games this season. Backstrom has produced three assists in two games versus the Rangers at The Garden this year.