POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Caps 3, Rangers 2 (SO)

The Not Shot - All's well that ends well, as the saying goes, but for a minute or so in the middle of Sunday afternoon, all didn't seem well for the Washington Capitals.

With the Caps and New York Rangers embroiled in a shootout to decide the outcome of their fourth meeting of the season, Washington captain Alex Ovechkin skated in on New York netminder Alexandar Georgiev in the bottom of the fourth round. A goal would win it for the Caps.
But before Ovechkin could pull the trigger on his shot, Georgiev pulled a trigger of his own, expertly sailing his goalie stick at Ovechkin's skate blade and knocking the puck off and out of harm's way. Immediately, Ovechkin held his arms wide as if to say, "What gives?" The two referees were stationed near the goal line on either side of the net, and neither gave a signal right way. Those two huddled up with the two linesmen near the penalty boxes to confer before issuing the "no goal" signal.

At this point, Caps coach Todd Reirden requested an audience with the arbiters, likely wondering why they made the call they made. As Reirden and the zebras chatted, word came from across the ice - via the off-ice officials - that The Situation Room was on the phone and wanted a word.
The officials skated to the officials area and took another look with some audio guidance. A minute or so later, referee Pierre Lambert sheepishly said, "After reviewing the play, it's an awarded goal because the goaltender throw his stick," and pointed to center ice to indicate that, indeed, the goal counted, and the Caps were 3-2 winners of one of the most anticlimactic endings in league history.
Sunday's controversial conclusion came two nights after the Caps didn't challenge what looked to be an offside play in a game against the Islanders on Friday night
"Initially their thought was it wasn't throwing the stick," says Reirden of the officials' perspective, "just from the angle that the referees saw it. We thought we would try to get as many rule controversies out there for you guys the last few games. So we thought we would mix them in, and we really had to reach to extremes on this one. It's been kind of a different last few games with some different types of rules.
"For sure we were quit confident and knew the fact that if the goalie does throw his stick on a penalty shot or a shootout opportunity, that it's an automatic goal. So that was good."

Indeed it was, as it resulted in Washington's fourth straight win and it also put the Caps back on top of the Metro Division standings for the first time in several weeks. It also served as a reminder that none of us, no matter how much hockey we've witnessed over the years, has ever seen it all.
Sluggish Starts - Sunday's matinee against the Rangers was the Caps' second in as many Sundays against New York; the Blueshirts were in Washington for a Sunday afternoon tilt on Feb. 24.
New York's Chris Kreider started the scoring at the 21-second mark of the first in that game in Washington, and he set up Ryan Strome's goal just 45 seconds after opening puck drop on Sunday in Manhattan.
Including those two contests against the Rangers, Washington has permitted the game's first goal inside the first four minutes of the first period in each of its last five games. While that hardly seems like a winning formula, the Caps have won four of those five games and their 15-13-7 record when surrendering the game's first goal is seventh best in the NHL. Washington's 15 wins when the opposition scores first is tied for fourth in the league.
How Sweep It Is - The Caps and the Rangers have been in the NHL together since 1974-75, and they've been denizens of the same division for a fair amount of that time, first in the Patrick Division, later in the Atlantic Division and now in the Metropolitan Division.
The Caps have gone through seasons without suffering regulation losses at the hands of the Rangers; they went 3-0-0-1 against the Blueshirts in 1999-00, they were 2-0-1-1 against them in 2002-03, and they went 3-0-1 against New York in 2008-09 and again in 2017-18.
But until Sunday's win left them with a 4-0-0 mark against the Rangers for this season, the Caps had never swept a season's series with the Blueshirts. And even this one must include an asterisk, as New York earned three points from the season's series via the overtime/loser's point route.
Simply put, this season is the first in which Washington has picked up the maximum number of points available to it in a season's series against the Rangers. The Caps now own a 107-90-18-7 mark all-time against New York. Washington is now 9-0-1 in its last 10 games against the Rangers, and its current six-game winning streak over the Blueshirts is the longest streak it has ever had against that franchise.
On The Board - Caps winger Carl Hagelin scored his first goal in a Washington sweater on Sunday, victimizing the Rangers, the team that drafted and developed him and gave him his start in the NHL.

"It felt good since day one, and the guys treated me really well" says Hagelin, who was obtained in a Feb. 21 trade with Los Angeles. "I got an opportunity to play with good players and obviously it doesn't matter where you play on this team; you're going to be surrounded by some really good players."
Hagelin skated 16:36 in Sunday's game, the most he has logged in any of his five games with the Caps and the most he has skated in any game since Oct. 23, when he logged 17:10 while playing at Edmonton when he was still a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Career High - Caps center Lars Eller set up linemate Hagelin in the first period of Sunday's game. The goal was Hagelin's first in a Caps sweater, and the assist was Eller's 22nd on the season, matching his single-season best. Eller also had 22 helpers in 2012-13 while with the Montreal Canadiens.
Eller had a career best 38 points (18 goals, 20 assists) with the Caps last season.
The 400 Club - Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov skated in his 400th career game on Sunday against the Rangers, a week shy of the fifth anniversary of his first NHL game on March 10, 2014. Kuznetsov has piled up 324 points (97 goals, 227 assists) in his first 400 games in the league.
By The Numbers -John Carlson led the Caps with 26:02 in ice time … Ovechkin led the Capitals with six shots on net and nine shot attempts … Tom Wilson and Brooks Orpik each had four hits to lead the way for Washington … Travis Boyd and T.J. Oshie each blocked two shots to lead the Caps.