Washington only had six shots in the third period and did not get its first on net until there was 7:44 remaining.
“It makes the game pretty easy when everyone’s going like that,” New York defenseman K’Andre Miller said. “I think we had our foot on the pedal all night and made it really hard on their defensemen, didn’t give them much. “
The Capitals were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill but 0-for-4 on the power play.
“They’ve obviously got very good special teams over there, and to shut them down on the PK was big momentum for us,” Carlson said. “We had plenty of chances to grab it through those kills, through the power plays, but when you let it blow in the wind, you never know what’s going to happen.”
NOTES: Kreider played in his 108th playoff game to pass Marc Staal for sole possession of third place Rangers history. Only Dan Girardi (122) and Henrik Lundqvist (130) have played in more. … Capitals defenseman Vincent Iorio sustained an upper-body injury in the second and did not return. Coach Spencer Carbery did not have an update. Washington was also without defensemen Nick Jensen (upper body) and Rasmus Sandin (upper body), and Carlson played a game-high 27:24. … Panarin has 121 points in the regular season and playoffs combined. The only Rangers players with more in one season are Jaromir Jagr (125 in 85 games in 2005-06) and Vic Hadfield (122 in 94 games in 1971-72). … Ovechkin was held without a shot on goal for the fourth time in 148 postseason games. He is second among active NHL players with 72 playoff goals, one behind Dallas Stars forward Joe Pavelski.
