If you wanted to pick a big swing moment in the Caps dominating win over the Rangers, then the Dylan McIlrath beat down of Matt Rempe to set the tone of the game might be it…but there’s not really a way to break down punching of faces, so let’s take a look at Alex Ovechkin’s second goal, instead.
It was important for a couple reasons. First it’s a freaking Ovechkin goal, and every one of those we get this season is exciting due to the fact he’s getting closer to THE record. Second, the goal was scored less than a minute after the Rangers tied up the game and momentarily taken the air out of the rink. To score a quick response goal was a great way to get the crowd back into it.
Third, it was just beautiful.
Off an offensive-zone faceoff, the Rangers won the puck, but Aliaksei Protas does what he does best and put pressure on defensemen K’Andre Miller. When Miller went to quickly get the puck out of the zone, Dylan Strome cut it off and gained possession. Three Rangers converged on him but he used a sweet backhand sauce pass to get it to Protas at the dot.
Protas gathered the puck, creating a quick 2-on-1 down low. He saw that Strome backhand pass and decided he wanted to take a crack at it as well, so he fed a nice pass around Adam Fox, who was unable to contain Ovechkin and his stick. It was a slam dunk into the back of the net for Ovechkin’s second goal of the game.
Even better was the fact that the goal was against Cap-killer Mika Zibanejad’s line and the Rangers’ top pair, with arguably one of the league’s best defensemen in Fox. To pull that important, quick-strike goal against that line and pairing kind of plunged the dagger even further into the Rangers and got the crowd onto their feet. While the Rangers did end up scoring two more, the Caps always stayed ahead of them with dominating play and timely offense.
It was a stellar win against one of the best teams in the league as the boys keep trucking along.