Maybe, with their head coach David Quinn back behind the bench after missing the previous games because of COVID-19, the Rangers were super relaxed. Or maybe they were naturally sluggish because they were playing a second game in 23 hours and a third game in 3 1/2 days.
Whatever the reason, the Rangers found themselves on the ropes after two periods Sunday in Washington, after Tom Wilson scored two goals and Alex Ovechkin one in the middle period for the East Division-leading Washington Capitals. Ultimately, that deficit proved too much to overcome as the Rangers’ furious third-period surge wasn’t enough to rescue them from a 5-4 loss to the Capitals in the finale of their three-game road trip.
Washington led 4-0 when Evgeny Kuznetsov scored early in the third period, before two goals by Colin Blackwell, who was celebrating his 28th birthday, got the Rangers back in the game. T.J. Oshie’s goal made it 5-2, but Alexis Lafreniere’s first goal in 13 games pulled the Rangers within 5-3 at 12:18 of the third. A penalty to Wilson gave the Rangers a power play and Chris Kreider’s power-play goal, at 16:08, pulled them within 5-4.
But that was as close as the Rangers would get. The loss was their second in a row and dropped them to 15-15-4, keeping them five points out of the fourth and final playoff spot in the East, pending the fourth-place Boston Bruins’ game later Sunday against New Jersey. The Capitals (23-7-4) won for the 11th time in the last 12 games and pulled two points ahead of the Islanders in the East and into a tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the most points in the league, with 50.
The two teams face each other again on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
Quinn was back after being out with COVID-19 for 10 days, and Hartford Wolf Pack coach Kris Knoblauch, who had filled in for Quinn during that time and led the team to a 4-2 record, remained on the bench as an assistant.
"I feel good physically,’’ Quinn said of returning to active duty. "I didn't get hit too bad by it. Obviously, [I was] climbing the walls, not been able to get out of the house or go to work. but Kris did a hell of a job with our team. Our team played well and that made it a lot easier.’’
