NHL Playoffs 2012: The 3-OT Win for Rangers Will Propel Them Past Capitals

Winning a marathon overtime game like the New York Rangers did on Wednesday night, does not guarantee that they're going to win the rest of the games left in the series because of some huge momentum swing.

In fact, the numbers show that the opposite happens in the immediate game after a multi-overtime marathon. Teams that win a multi-overtime game in the playoffs are 6-21 in the following game since 2006.

However, those teams that won a multi-overtime game in a series, ended up winning their series 16 times out of 27 in the same timespan.

In other words, when teams win a big game like this, they tend to not be able to overcome the emotional victory from the previous game. It's harder for them to put it behind them and focus on the next one. Meanwhile, the losing team wants to forget the loss as quickly as possible, so they strike back quickly.

That being said, in the long run, it seems like the team that won the game in overtime is able to bounce back. 

That should be the case in this series.

Although the Washington Capitals have a legitimate shot to bounce back in Game 4 and even up the series, the New York Rangers victory over the Capitals proved that they can overcome any sort of adversity. 

If they lose Game 4, the know they can say to themselves, "Hey, we won a marathon overtime game. We can surely return home and take Game 5 and the series in Game 6."

More importantly, the Rangers have shown that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is not going to give up goals easily. There's a reason why he's a Hart Trophy candidate. That's like having an MLB pitcher be an MVP candidate.

Lundqvist hasn't allowed more than three goals in any game during this year's playoffs. He gives his team a chance to win every night, and with him in net, the Rangers should be able to win this series, especially after his 45-save performance tonight.

He has a 1.55 GAA with a .944 save percentage during the playoffs. Those are stunning numbers that could not only take the Rangers to the Eastern Conference finals, but to their first title since 1994.