Capitals punish Rangers, will host Pens in 2nd round
WASHINGTON - Alex Ovechkin and the rest of the young Washington Capitals stars were still trying to figure out how to win a Game 7, and it showed in a tentative performance that had the usually loyal red-clad home fans booing in the second period.
It took an old master to deliver the lesson and rescue the Capitals from what could have been a first-round exit for the second year in a row.
Thirty-nine-year-old Sergei Fedorov the one playing in his 1,424th NHL game, the one with three Stanley Cup titles from the great Detroit Red Wings teams, one of only three players on the entire Capitals roster ever to be on the winning team in a Game 7 made a veteran move with the score tied late in the game.
Coming down the right wing, he slammed on the brakes in the right circle to get some space against defenseman Wade Redden, then put his shot above goalie Henrik Lundqvist's left shoulder with 4:59 to play for the game-winner Tuesday night in Washington's 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.
"Let's face it, experience sometimes pays off," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He knew what he had to do, when to do it. That's what makes him one of the greatest players ever."
The Capitals became the 21st team in NHL history to advance after trailing 3-1, and a franchise that hadn't won a playoff series in more than a decade took a huge psychological step forward after falling at the exact same hurdle last season.
With the win and New Jersey's 4-3 loss to Carolina, the Capitals will host the Penguins in Game One of the Eastern Conference semifinals Saturday afternoon.
For the Rangers, the loss ended an eventful series that followed a challenging regular season. Coach Tom Renney was fired in February and replaced by John Tortorella, who got New York into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed despite a lack of offensive firepower and then had a 3-1 series lead on the second-seeded Capitals.
Hurricanes 4, Devils 3
At Newark, N.J., the Hurricanes shocked the Devils in Game 7 with two late goals to advance to a matchup with top-seede in the second round.
Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal scored in a 48-second span late in the third period. It was the second shocking loss for the Devils in the series. They lost Game 4 on a goal by Jokinen with 0.2 seconds to play.
