This was a return to one of those Patrick Division playoff games, in which opponents went back in four sets of games in the first two rounds.
Here are the Rangers and Capitals who crushed him in Washington on Saturday, with no space allowed and no quarters allowed a night after Capitals dominated a similar type of taffy attraction by the force of two late shots from the incomparable Alex Ovechkin.
Defeat the Blueshirts like this once, you deserve Capital. Beat them twice in 27 hours, no, not on head coach Kris Knoblauch’s watch.
Or, by the way, Mika Zibanejad.
Because it was a resurrected Zibanejad who made a brilliant play following Brendan Dillon, smashing the defender’s cane before taking it out of the puck before retrieving it for his and beating a short lift next to Ilya Samsonov at 17:28 from the third. period to give the Rangers a 2-1 advantage in a game they jumped 3-1 with the help of Brett Howden’s empty net.
This was the kind of elite work that Zibanejad and Blueshirts experienced last season, when a late accusation brought an invitation to the party of 24 teams under the bubble. Music has died in Toronto, but the team is starting to hum again.
“I think they are very dedicated. I think they feel like they have a chance to make the playoffs and they have to play well throughout the final, ”said Knoblauch, now 2-1 behind the bench, as he occupies David Quinn, who will continue to be away from the team in the COVID-19 protocol until at least Friday. “I think there are also some beliefs that they can play like they did in the second half of last year, when they got into a pretty big role.”
Keith Kinkaid was a disappointment, however. In the end, he was completely out of control with his team mates waiting for the ball to be leveled. The commitment to play through the body and be on the right side of the puck was obvious. So was the Rangers’ dedication to avoiding turnover or poor puck management in critical areas of the ice. They gave almost nothing for free.
“I thought we were smart with the puck,” Zibanejad said. “They are a very good team and we just have to make sure we don’t feed their offense.
“Everyone is back. Everyone played hard and contributed in different ways and I think that’s what I did at Philly, obviously [9-0] great victory in the last two games as well. We were pretty good. ”
The defense and the goalkeeper were strong in limiting Washington to three goals in 120 minutes, all except for withdrawals from the slot. But a single goal was not enough to win on Friday, and the only goal scored on the bench by Pavel Buchnevich at 17:49 in the first period on Saturday for a 1-0 advantage would not be enough once John Carlson scored on a rotating return to tie him at 5:55 of the third period.
Knoblauch, who had (or was caught with) the fourth line in front of Ovechkin’s drive for both of the Big Eight’s goals on Friday, cut his bench in it and rode his horses – or Quinn’s – on the stretch. This was not a cookie cutter job behind the bank.
Alexis Lafreniere achieved a change of 34 seconds compared to the last 12:45 and finished with a minimum season of 7:53. Filip Chytil got two exchanges worth 1:10 over the last 12:45. Brendan Lemieux did not reach the ice in the final 9:10. Libor Hajek was in the final at 11:48, and Brendan Smith was stopped in the final at 8:34, while the club went with four defenders during the duration.
Meanwhile, Adam Fox was active for 5:12 in the 9:55 final and played 10:17 in the third period for a total of 28:00 play. Zibanejad was active for 2:48 of 5:31 for 21:10. Zibanejad won the match to set up Buchnevich’s first goal and then blocked the shots before getting the winner.
“I took out the puck and basically followed their D and tried to stay on it,” said Zibanejad, who has 10 points (4-6) in the last five games. “I received a push, I don’t know if he was caught in a routine or something like that, he fell and I managed to take the puck and try to take it on the net. He came in, so it’s beautiful. “Obviously, it feels good when you can contribute offensively. That’s what is expected of me, obviously, but I’ve said that before, I’ve been feeling pretty good in the last few weeks. I feel like myself again. ”
The rangers also look a little more angry.