The New York Rangers returned from the holiday freeze defeating the Washington Capitals 5-1 at Madison Square Garden.
New York City, N.Y: The New York Rangers trounced the Washington Capitals 5-1 for their 24th victory of the season. The Rangers scored 5 unanswered goals, two off the stick of K'Andre Miller.
Lines:
Wheeler-Zibanejad-Kreider
Panarin-Troceck-Lafreniere
Cuyller-Bonino-Brodzinski
Vesey-Goodrow-Pitlick
Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Gustafsson-Schneider
Shesterkin
1st Period: The Rangers and Capitals exchanged chances for the first 10 minutes of action. Mika Zibanejad flew down Santa Clause Lane for a breakaway and was hooked by John Carlson at the 6:24 mark. The Rangers couldn't capitalize on that opportunity, but the second unit generated equally as good looks as the first.
It was a well-rounded first period for the Rangers, as this morning K'Andre Miller talked about the importance of a 60-minute effort.
2nd Period: The Capitals began the first 1:36 of the second period on a powerplay but did not score. At the 4:12 mark, Anthony Mantha jumped on a rush opportunity, Adam Fox attempted a neutral zone pinch, and sniped Shesterkin's far-glove side for a 1-0 lead.
The Rangers failed to score on another powerplay opportunity, but K'Andre Miller answered by jumping into the attack to knot things up at 1-1, scoring on this play:
Following some physical play, Barclay Goodrow was assessed a tripping call in the offensive zone, leading to the Capital's second power play of the night. Mika Zibanejad would be tripped, so the Rangers emerged with a 1:30 power play.
Artemi Panarin sniped a wrister glove side on the man advantage to take the lead, and Braden Schneider followed up with his 3rd of the season 40 seconds later. In under a minute, the Rangers took a two-goal lead, with assists from Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, Ryan Lindgren, and Jimmy Vesey.
3rd Period: The Blueshirts were 13-2-1 when leading after two periods entering the final frame of the contest. In the first minute, Jacob Trouba collided with Tom Wilson and did not return to the game.
K'Andre Miller would add to the lead with his second of the game, gliding over the blue line, and launching a wrister bar down at the 6:54 marker.
Alexis Lafreniere would also finish his 10th goal of the season, on a one-time feed from Fox (20th assist of the season) and Miller (3rd point of the night).
The Rangers won the contest 5-1, with 11 different skaters recording a point. Igor Shesterkin won his last four starts including tonight, where he stopped 22 saves on 23 shots.
The New York Rangers practice tomorrow before they conclude the calender year with a back-to-back set against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
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