Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals face-off for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Round 2 best-of-seven series live from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. as part of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
New York looks to steal home ice advantage back after splitting at Madison Square Garden while Washington looks to take a 2-1 series lead as the set shifts to the Verizon Center in the nation's capital.
The Capitals took Game 1 of this series 2-1 at MSG on a stunning buzzer-beater in the third period while the Rangers bounced back with a 3-2 victory in Game 2 on Saturday afternoon. All seven of the Blueshirts playoff games have been decided by one goal.
This game can be live streamed for free here.
Chris Kreider scored 38 seconds into Game 2 to set the tone for New York while Dan Boyle had a power play tally and Derick Brassard netted what proved to be the game-winning goal.
Brassard leads the Rangers with four goals and is tied with Rick Nash (one marker, four helpers) for the team lead with five points. Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin each have two tallies and two helpers for four points in the playoffs.
Capitals rookie Evgeni Kuznetsov found the twine in Game 2 while Alex Ovechkin scored what could be the best goal of the 2015 playoffs from his knees in the loss.
Ovechkin leads Washington with eight points this postseason and is tied with Kuznetsov, a rookie, for the team-lead with four goals. Ovechkin's linemates Nicklas Backstrom (3-4--7) and Game 1 hero Joel Ward (2-4--6) have also had big postseasons.
The Rangers are hoping to limit the Capital's top line much like they did in Round 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, which was won in five games.
"We're trying to do everything we can to limit their opportunities," coach Alain Vigneault said per NHL.com. "Our challenge in the series before was to stop Pittsburgh and their two key elements, [Sidney] Crosby and [Evgeni] Malkin. Our challenge in this one is sort of the same. We're trying to stop Washington and their two key elements, which in our books are Ovechkin and Backstrom. They're a tough challenge. We're trying to do the best we can."
The Capitals won their final three home games -- including a pivotal Game 7 -- at home against the New York Islanders in Round 1, but they know the Rangers are capable of pulling games out on the road as the Blueshirts had an NHL-best 28 wins away from Madison Square Garden in the regular season.
"We really don't know what to expect," Capitals defenseman Mike Green told NHL.com. "We will see when we get on the ice. We know they are going to come out hard. They've been successful in other series in the first period and we know they will come out strong tomorrow and we have to make sure we do our best to meet their push and cause them to get back on their heels."
In between the pipes, Washington turns to Braden Holtby and he stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced in Game 2. Holtby is 4-4 with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage this postseason.
New York counters with Henrik Lundqvist in the blue paint and he had a dazzling Game 2 performance, yielding two goals on 32 shots and turning aside several quality chances. Lundqvist is 5-2 in the playoffs thus far with a 1.67 GAA and a .938 save percentage.
It's a pivotal swing game when the puck drops on the Rangers and Capitals for Game 3 live tonight from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. as part of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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