NHL Playoffs 2012: The Washington Capitals Come 6.6 Seconds from Winning Game 5

The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals in Madison Square Garden 3-2 in overtime to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Brad Richards netted a power play goal to tie the game with a mere 6.6 seconds left in regulation.

The second half of Joel Ward’s late high-sticking double minor carried over into overtime. On that residual power play, defenseman Marc Staal scored the game winning goal 1:35 into overtime.

It just so happens that the man that won Game 7 against the Boston Bruins essentially lost the Capitals' Game 5 against the Rangers.

Looking at the numbers, you’d never think that it was the Rangers that had to rally back to tie the game. After all, they more than doubled the Caps’ shots, outshooting them 38 to 18. They also out-hit the Caps 29 to 14 and took one less minor penalty.

After the Rangers vastly outplayed the Caps in the first period, Washington was lucky to only be down 1-0. Astonishingly, the Rangers outshot the Caps 17-4. The Caps continued to squander opportunities, such as a third period 3-1 odd man rush.

It wasn’t all bad, though. The Caps played much better in the second and third periods than they did in the first. Brooks Laich had a stellar goal in the second to tie the game.

About four minutes into the third, John Carlson’s power play slapshot passed through Lundqvist to earn the Caps a 2-1 lead. Also, Braden Holtby saved 35 of the 38 shots he faced, amounting to a more than respectable .921 save percentage. He made more than his fair share of crucial saves.

In the end, it would seem that the Rangers simply outplayed the Caps. In the defensive zone, the Rangers did a phenomenal job of taking away passing and shooting lanes, limiting the Caps’ options of moving the puck. This was a big factor in the Caps only tallying 18 shots in almost 65 minutes of play.

Lundqvist, as per his usual, seemed almost superhuman in his goaltending. He only faced 18 shots and ended up letting two of them through. However, like Holtby, he also had a good amount of highlight reel saves.

The Caps will bring the series back to the Verizon Center on Wednesday. Hopefully the hometown atmosphere will help them rebound from this loss because they will need to win the last two games of the series to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Caps have proved time and time again in this series that they are more than capable of recovering from tough losses. They still have what it takes to beat the Ranger and advance on their quest for the Stanley Cup.