Rangers hold off hard-charging Capitals to force Game 7

Another day, another one-goal game for the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals.

The Rangers came out strong and used an impressive first period from Chris Kreider to gain an early advantage over the Capitals, while relying heavily on goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to close the door for the 4-3 victory and an even series at 3-3.

Kreider recorded two goals for the Rangers, who also witnessed the end of Rick Nash's scoring slump, while veteran Dan Boyle also got into the scoring mix.

After a second period goal from Jason Chimera, Washington almost mounted an incredible comeback, with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Joel Ward adding third period goals to inch closer to the Rangers. It wasn't enough as they fell in defeat.

Star Performer: Lundqvist was an animal between the pipes, making highlight-reel saves and stopping 42 shots in his team's win.

Turning Point: Kreider didn't waste any time getting his team out to an early lead and then decided that wasn't good enough as he potted his second goal of the game with less than a second left in the first period, giving his team the padding they needed to walk away victorious.

Goalie comparison: The aforementioned Lundqvist was incredible with his 42 save performance, while Braden Holtby finally looked beatable, allowing four goals on 28 shots.

Top Highlight: Lundqvist was a man on a mission and he showed Chimera and Troy Brouwer his skills early in the first period, robbing both forwards with consecutive saves.

Stat of the night: Game 6 marked the first playoff game where goals were scored in the opening minute of all three periods - Kreider at 40 seconds into the first, Chimera at 28 seconds into the second, Nash at 54 seconds into the third - since May 7, 2000.

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
Game 6: Rangers 4, Capitals 3
Game 7: Wednesday May 13 (7:30 p.m. E.T.)