Backed by a three-goal second period, kickstarted by rookie sensation Matt Rempe, the New York Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals 4-1 to take a 1-0 series lead.
Backed by a three-goal second period, kickstarted by rookie sensation Matt Rempe, the New York Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals 4-1 to take a 1-0 series lead.
Here’s how it happened:
Each team was given an early chance on the power play.
Matt Rempe was sent to the box for charging on his first shift but the Capitals failed to score.
Alexander Alexeyev then held Will Cuylle and gave the Rangers their first chance on the man-advantage, but the Rangers could not capitalize either.
The first period ended with no score after a stagnant first 20 minutes.
New York had three more shots than Washington in the first period, with seven compared to four.
A nice passing play set the Rangers up to open the scoring in the game 4:17 into the second period where Rempe scored his first career playoff goal right outside the crease, finding himself in the right place at the right time:
Jimmy Vesey gave the puck to Barclay Goodrow who sent it to Rempe for the dagger.
Just 32 seconds later, Panarin finished off a 2-on-1 by ripping a low shot past Lindgren's glove.
Alexis Lafreniere started the play and Vincent Trocheck made the pass across:
Vesey made it 3-0 for the Rangers as the fourth line scored again. The goal came right off the faceoff as Goodrow won it right to Vesey, who sailed it high into the net at 6:23 of the second:
For the Rangers it was three goals in a span in 2:06.
A 1:08 after the Rangers third goal, the Capitals got their first of the game.
Tom Wilson scored from the right circle after Aleksey Protas and Martin Fehervary cycled the zone and tallied assists:
The Rangers took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission after their three quick goals early in the second. The Capitals however led in shots, 11-9.
At 16:17 of the third, Chris Kreider scored on the breakaway via a backhand finish to extend the Rangers lead to 4-1:
Mika Zibanejad and Jack Roslovic had the assists.
LINES:
Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Jack Roslovic
Artemi Panarin -- Vincent Trocheck -- Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle -- Alex Wennberg -- Kaapo Kakko
Jimmy Vesey -- Barclay Goodrow -- Matt Rempe
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller -- Braden Schneider
Erik Gustafsson -- Jacob Trouba
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
UP NEXT: The Rangers host the Capitals For Game 2 on Tuesday night at 7 PM ET.