Rangers tie it late, stay alive with OT win vs. Capitals in Game 5
The New York Rangers are going back to Washington after some late heroics in Friday's Game 5, overtime win over the Capitals.
Down 1-0 with less than two minutes remaining in the third period and seemingly unable to solve Braden Holtby, Chris Kreider rocketed a wrist shot from down on one knee into the back of the net to force overtime.
Ryan McDonagh then snapped another goal past Holtby in the extra frame, giving the Rangers a 2-1 win and pushing the series to a Game 6.
Here's what you need to know about the tight, come-from-behind win:
Star Performer: Every hockey-loving kid dreams of scoring an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and McDonagh did just that on the biggest of stages, setting him apart as Game 5's star performer.
The goal came at the 9:37 mark of period four.
The defenseman saw a team-high 25:12 of ice time, recorded two shots and four blocked shots, and was also on the ice for Kreider's tying effort.
Solid night for the captain.
Turning Point: The countdown to playoff elimination had hit two minutes, but only 19 seconds later, the Rangers had new life.
And it was a pretty sweet goal by Kreider to boot.
Goalie Comparison: For 58 minutes, Holtby - who had allowed only one goal over the previous two games - looked virtually impenetrable.
Both he and Henrik Lundqvist remained at the top of their games, resulting in another one-goal affair and next-level save percentages.
| GOALIE | SHOTS | GA | SAVES | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braden Holtby | 43 | 2 | 41 | .953 |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 29 | 1 | 28 | .966 |
Top Highlight: Despite coming out with a loss, Holtby provided a couple of "how did he do that?" moments, both off the stick of Martin St. Louis.
The first was a dexterous pad save in the first period, and the other was this impressive flash of leather that stood out as the highlight of the night.
Stat of the Night: It's becoming increasingly clear that these Rangers won't go down on home ice. The Game 5 win extended their streak of fending off elimination at Madison Square Garden, setting an NHL record in the process.
Rangers: have won their last 9 home games when facing elimination, the longest such streak in NHL history (via @eliassports)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 9, 2015
Series at a Glance:
Game 1: Capitals 2, Rangers 1
Game 2: Rangers 3, Capitals 2
Game 3: Capitals 1, Rangers 0
Game 4: Capitals 2, Rangers 1
Game 5: Rangers 2, Capitals 1 (OT)
Game 6: Sunday, May 10, TBD
*Game 7: Wednesday, May 13, TBD