RANGERS WRAP UP AND POST GAME REACTIONS

Rangers fall to Capitals 4-3 in OT

3:42PM

NEW YORK (AP) Alexander Ovechkin scored his second goal of the game and the 499th of his career at 1:25 of overtime and the Washington Capitals rallied to beat the New York Rangers 4-3 on Saturday.

The Capitals got the win after blowing a two-goal third-period lead and then tying the game in the waning seconds.

Nicklas Backstrom forced overtime by sliding the rebound of Justin Williams' shot under Henrik Lundqvist with 5.7 seconds left in regulation.

Braden Holtby prevented the Rangers from winning just seconds before Ovechkin scored. The Washington goaltender stopped Rick Nash in close and then combined with defenseman Nate Schmidt to stop Derek Stephan on the rebound attempt.

Ovechkin, playing in his 800th game, got the puck, skated the length of the ice on the left side before cutting across the middle and beating Lundqvist. Ovechkin will try to reach the 500-goal milestone on Sunday at home against Ottawa.

(NHL.com)

Adam's Thoughts:

• Well it was a fun game to watch and one the Rangers were oh so close to winning in regulation and then OT but then lost in a flash off an incredible rush and goal by Alex Ovechkin.
• Not calling the timeout after the icing with under a minute to go seemed like an odd choice. After all of the pressure the Caps were putting on and then an icing, it just seemed to make sense to call the timeout. Maybe Vigneault didn't want the Caps to get a break as well, maybe he thought Dominic Moore would win the faceoff, clear the puck and then allow everyone to get a change. In the end they didn't call it, Washington scored 50 seconds later and they went to OT.
• It's a loss and it stinks but I don't think you can look past the comeback the Rangers made in the third period. They sent players to the net, went to the net with the puck and 5.7 seconds away from pulling off maybe the best win of the season and an upbeat, positive locker room.
• It's another instance of alternating between wins and losses for the Rangers. Still, while the result went against the Rangers, there was probably enough good in this game to help them build and go forward without taking a step back.
• It's 4 games in 6 days coming up with a three in four nights featuring the Isles on Thursday, Flyers on Saturday and Caps on Sunday. If the Rangers continue to play like they have been, strong defensively and with timely goals, they should find themselves winning most of those games.

 What was said and why the Rangers didn't call a timeout after that icing

3:59P

With 54 seconds left the Rangers were called for icing with Derek Stepan, Dominic Moore, Rick Nash, Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh on the ice.
Moore had just come on the ice for Jesper Fast but Nash had been on the ice for 90 seconds, Stepan for 80 seconds and McDonagh and Girardi for just under 60 seconds each.
48 seconds later, after the Rangers lost the faceoff but cleared the puck out of the zone with around 31 seconds left, Nicklas Backstrom scored to tie the game at three.
Henrik Lundqvist was asked about the final minute of the game and said, "our players were tired, there is question. A little break before the last faceoff would have been good. But we didn't take that break and got caught out there. They are a good team and they are going to get looks and...it's just frustrating." (MSG)
Asked if he was trying to signal for a timeout after the icing, Lundqvist said, "yea, no, Mac was asking for a timeout and he kind of changed his mind because I asked him again and he said he was fine and I think in that moment, with that pressure, a break would have been nice. In the end we have to call it from the ice to let them know so...that's it." (MSG)
On MSG, Alain Vignealut said was asked if he considered calling a timeout and said, "no, not really. They had their guys who had been out there, they had used their timeout, Dom was out there and he was fresh. Our guys knew how we wanted to play 6 on 5. I had the people I wanted out there."
Vigneault added, "Mac might have been a little bit tired there, we got the puck out, if he was really tired he would have come to the bench and he decided to stay on the ice so he couldn't have been that tired. Fortunately we left a good player in front of the net all alone there and they got a little rebound that they were able to tap in."
Adam Rotter: Should the Rangers have called a timeout? Probably, but ultimately they cleared the puck out of the zone and only two players (Nash & Girardi changed. Ryan McDonagh had the opportunity to change and didn't. We don't know if McDonagh changing and allowing a fresh Marc Staal on the ice would have prevented Backstrom from scoring and given the Rangers the win. But as far as I am concerned, the Rangers are absolved of that decision because they cleared the puck and gave their players a chance to change. All you can do in that situation is get the puck out of the zone to allow fresh players to come on, the Rangers did that but only two fresh guys came on.