Capitals vs. Rangers: Game 1 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 NHL Playoffs

All of the drama in the sports world on Thursday night was supposed to be in Chicago for the NFL draft. Nobody told the Washington Capitals, however. 

Despite blowing a 1-0 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the third period, the Capitals recovered and scored the game-winning goal in the final second of their game against the New York Rangers, winning Game 1 of their second-round Eastern Conference playoff series, 2-1. 

Joel Ward was the hero, as Alex Ovechkin won the puck on the boards, raced behind the net and ripped a pass to Ward, who buried the puck past a shocked Henrik Lundqvist. It was quite the night for Ovechkin, who also scored a beauty of a goal in the opening period. 

Here's the moment Ward's puck went through the goal, via Sporting News:

You simply don't see that in hockey very often. 

Jesper Fast scored the game-tying goal in the third period for the Rangers, and they surely thought they were heading to overtime despite running into a red-hot Braden Holtby, who stopped 31 of 32 shots. Lundqvist was nearly his equal, stopping 27 of 29, though that final tally is going to haunt him until Game 2. 

The Rangers and Capitals certainly went after each other in the first period, though both sides played strong defense and got excellent play from their goalies. The difference, however, was Ovechkin. 

The superstar raced down the left side of the ice late in the period, used the defender attempting to stay with him as a screen and ripped an absolutely blistering wrister that Henrik Lundqvist simply couldn't handle to give Washington a 1-0 lead that held until the first intermission. 

The NHL on Twitter passed along the goal:

To say the shot had a bit of velocity would be quite the understatement. Jesse Spector of Sporting News described it as follows:

Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News added:

And Ovechkin didn't hesitate to let Lundqvist know he'd be seeing more of that in the series, per Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in America:

Of course, it was the Rangers who appeared to have more of the swagger for much of the frame and didn't want for chances, outshooting the Capitals 12-7. Indeed, the 1-0 scoreline was probably a bit harsh on New York, per Bruce Beck of WNBC-TV:

The goalies took over the second period, as Lundqvist and Holtby made 10 saves apiece and the Capitals maintained their 1-0 lead. And it appeared Holtby was going to stifle the Rangers in the third period as well. For 55 minutes and 21 seconds he was was perfect, stopping all 29 shots that came his way. 

But Fast, who scored all of six goals for the Rangers in the regular season, finally was able to get them on the board with a deflection in front of the net. It wasn't exactly the most graceful goal, as Leonard noted:

Still, Fast and the Rangers weren't complaining, and it appeared they were going to take the game to overtime before Ward scored his shocking game-winning goal. The teams scuffled a bit on the faceoff before time ran out, though things didn't get out of hand.

Still, you can bet Game 2 will be charged, especially with the Ranges in a borderline must-win situation, as they won't want to go to Washington already down 2-0 in the series. Washington is a tough matchup given their physicality, though the Rangers played very well for much of the game and were done in by big nights from Holtby and Ovechkin.

Expect a battle in Game 2. It might be tough to top Game 1's late drama, but the intensity will certainly be ramped up.