Rangers vs. Capitals: 3 things to watch for trying to avoid season-series sweep
After defeating lesser teams their past two games, the New York Rangers step up in class to host the Washington Capitals on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
The Capitals (39-14-8) are first in both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference, second overall in the NHL and defeated the Rangers twice already this season. With a win Wednesday, the Capitals would complete a sweep of the season-series against the Rangers, a bit of a twist after the Blueshirts swept them in the first-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring.
Much has changed since that playoff series. The Capitals made a series of smart off-season moves and been remarkably consistent this season, among the biggest surprises in the League. They are 10 points clear of the second-place Carolina Hurricanes in the division and 20 up on the Rangers.
On the flip side are the Rangers, the 2024 Presidents’ Trophy winners who resided near the bottom of the conference in December, but retooled making four trades in-season and now sit in the second wild card in the East.
The Rangers (31-26-4) have won four of their past five games and seven of 10. They’re coming off consecutive 4-0 shutout victories against the Nashville Predators and New York Islanders and seek their first three-game winning streak since Nov. 14-19.
Washington is coming off a wild 5-4 shootout win against the Ottawa Senators on Monday, that ended a season-long three-game losing streak.
The Capitals have outscored the Rangers 12-7, winning twice at Capital One Arena earlier this season.
Related: Reformed Rangers ‘buying in’ to changes to make serious playoff push
3 things to watch for when Rangers host Capitals
1. Time to step up against the big boys
In winning four of their past five games, the Rangers feasted against weaker opposition. They defeated the Islanders twice and the Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins once each. Good on the Rangers. Good teams should fatten up on lesser opponents and the Rangers, desperate for every point they can get, did just that the past week.
Considering points squandered against the Buffalo Sabres coming out of the break and earlier in the season against teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, Seattle Kraken and Predators, it’s high time the Rangers take care of business against these lower-echelon opponents.
But now that their game is coming together, the Rangers must start adding some wins against the better teams in the League. They do have a pair of victories against the Vegas Golden Knights in the New Year, but really not much else. The Rangers played well but lost 3-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs last Friday and haven’t defeated a top-tier team since knocking off the Dallas Stars 3-1 on Dec. 20.
The Rangers could also play better in the division. They’re 10-9-0 against Metropolitan Division rivals. The Capitals, by contrast, are 13-4-0 within the division.
2. Fill the net
Since Jan. 2, the Rangers are second in the NHL with 85 goals scored. They’ve netted three or more in 17 of 25 games, including four or more in 14 of those games. When the Rangers score four or more goals this season, they’re 20-3-3. Despite losing twice to Washington, New York scored four goals in one game and three in the other.
They’ll need to keep filling the net Wednesday. The Capitals lead the NHL by averaging 3.59 goals per game, including 12 in two games against the Rangers. Washington has already scored three more goals this season (219) than all of the 2023-24 campaign (216) in 21 fewer games so far.
Artemi Panarin is warming up for the Rangers with goals in consecutive games and now has 25 on the season. J.T. Miller has seven goals in 11 games since coming over Jan. 31 in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. And power forward Will Cuylle has four goals in his past six games and is tied for second on the Rangers with 17 goals.
3. Gr8 chasing down The Great One
Alex Ovechkin arrives on Broadway 11 goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL record of 894. The ageless 39-year-old has 31 goals in 45 games, second in the League with an average of 0.69 goals per game. It’s his 19th 30-goal season, most in NHL history, and he’d have a lot more this season if the Capitals captain hadn’t missed 16 games with a fractured fibula.
Ovechkin has one goal in his past three games after recording four in his previous two. He also comes in Wednesday two points away from becoming the 11th NHL player to reach 1,600 points.
In 75 games against the Rangers, Ovechkin’s scored 45 goals, including three this season. He’s scored four goals against the Rangers starting goalie on Wednesday, Igor Shesterkin.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – J.T. Miller- Zibanejad
Othmann – Parssinen – Brodzinski
Berard – Carrick – Rempe
K. Miller – Borgen
Vaakanainen – Schneider
Jones – de Haan
Shesterkin
Quick
Rangers vs. Capitals: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals
When: Wednesday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: TNT
More About:New York Rangers News