Rangers 1 - 3 Capitals
Final
  for this game

Caps aim to eliminate visiting Rangers

Apr 23, 2011 - 3:09 PM (Sports Network) - The top-seeded Washington Capitals will try to end their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series today, when they host the New York Rangers for Game 5 at the Verizon Center.

After taking the first two tests of this series in D.C., the Capitals earned a split in Games 3 and 4 in New York. Washington grabbed a 3-1 lead in the best- of-seven series with a double-overtime victory in Wednesday's Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.

The Caps overcame a 3-0 deficit in the third period of Game 4 to force overtime and Jason Chimera's tally with 7:24 left in the second OT was the winner in the 4-3 decision. The fluky goal marked the second tally of this series for Chimera.

Chimera was the beneficiary of a turnover by the Rangers in front of netminder Henrik Lundqvist. Marcus Johansson's shot from the right circle was partially blocked and rolled in on the Swedish goaltender as he left the crease in an attempt to cover the puck. New York's Marian Gaborik, racing back into his own end, tried to flick away the puck but it struck an onrushing Chimera in the chest, and he banged it into the empty cage.

"It hit my chest and went down," Chimera said of the unexpected gift. "It felt like forever until it went down to my stick. It was a good effort by us in the third period and what a comeback. Once we got one, we felt them sit back a bit. We took advantage of it."

Johansson scored twice and Alexander Semin once for the Capitals, who will try to punch their ticket to the second round today after losing last spring in the conference quarterfinals to eighth-seeded Montreal.

Michal Neuvirth stopped 36-of-39 shots to help anchor the Southeast Division champions to their second overtime win of the series. Washington, which also won the opener in the extra session, has claimed two OT wins in a playoff series for the first time since 1998.

"That was a fabulous hockey game, two warrior teams going at it and leaving nothing on the ice," gushed Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau. "This has been one hell of a series so far. I don't anticipate anything different."

Washington played Game 4 without forward Mike Knuble due to an undisclosed injury and the veteran will miss this afternoon's test as well. The 38-year- old had 24 goals during the regular season and notched one marker in the first three games of this series.

Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky scored seven seconds apart in the second period for the eighth-seeded Rangers, who took a 3-0 lead after Dubinsky's tally at 13:47 of the second period, but were unable to score after that.

Lundqvist was strong in the loss, making 49 stops.

"Losing an overtime game in the playoffs hurts all of the time but our team will bounce back," said Rangers head coach John Tortorella. "We can't look at the hill. We have to win the next game. We have to find a way to win one hockey game and we will see what happens from there."

The Capitals have a poor 5-4 all-time record in series that they have led three games to one. Washington held a 3-1 edge last year against Montreal only to lose the series.

The Rangers have never come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a playoff series, although Washington was able to pull off that feat against New York in the opening round of the 2009 playoffs.

Washington had a superb 25-8-8 record on home ice this year. The Rangers, who will host Game 6 on Monday if they can get a win today, had a solid 24-16-1 record on the road during the regular season.

These clubs have met five times in the playoffs and Washington has won three of those series.






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