Postgame takeaways: Rangers get worked in Washington

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The final score would lead you to believe that Tuesday’s playoff rematch between the Rangers and Capitals was close. In truth, it was the most lopsided game in what has mostly been a smooth start to this Blueshirts’ season.

The result was their second regulation defeat, with the Caps managing a one-goal lead until adding a late empty-netter in a 5-3 win at Capital One Arena.

Despite the re slim margin of victory, the home team largely dominated. Washington outshot the Rangers, 46-19, and kept them on their heels for the majority of the evening.

Dominated from puck drop

The first period may have been the worst 20 minutes the Rangers have played yet this season.

They were under siege from the first shift on their way to being outshot 20-6, easily high total they’ve allowed in a period through nine games. The Capitals spent long stretches pinning the Blueshirts in their own end while peppering Igor Shesterkin with one chance after another, including seven of the high-danger variety, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Matt Rempe attempted to provide a spark after being recalled from AHL Hartford on Monday, but it seemed to have the reverse effect. The 6-foot-9 rookie received the brunt of the blows in a fight with heavyweight Dylan McIlrath, with the fired-up Caps scoring less a minute later.

Alex Ovechkin fueled their fast start, notching two goals in the first 5:10 of play. The first stemmed from one of several board battles lost by the Rangers, with Aliaksei Protas doing the dirty work to get the puck to Dylan Strome, who then found Ovechkin for a wrister from the top of the left circle.

The NHL’s second all-time leading scorer notched career goal No. 857 less than two minutes later, this coming off a failed clear attempt from Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller. It went from Strome to Protas to Ovechkin this time, with the latter beating Adam Fox to the backdoor for a one-timer finish.

Washington made it 3-1 by the 8:58 mark when Connor McMichael redirected a shot from Taylor Raddysh.

It could have been even worse if not for Shesterkin, who turned away 17 shots in the period to survive an array of turnovers and defensive mistakes in front of him.

The only New York line that was able to generate any offensive push featured Will Cuylle, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko, who have rightfully been earning more ice time of late. They were responsible for the lone Rangers’ goal of the period, with Kakko setting up Cuylle with a backhanded feed of the rush, which the 22-year-old netted for his third goal of the season.

Shaky night for Miller-Fox pair

The results were better for the Rangers in the second period, with a pair of goals coming from Chris Kreider and Chytil to help them pull within a 4-3 margin. But it didn’t exactly look that way.

They once again spent chunks of time defending, with the Capitals credited with a whopping 11 HD chances compared to three for the Blueshirts in the middle 20 minutes. Washington only turned that into one goal, though, when Protas won a board battle with Miller and then beat him to the front of the net for redirect finish.

That typified an especially rough night for the Miller-Fox pair, which had received a vote of confidence from head coach Peter Laviolette on Tuesday morning.

“K’Andre and Foxy have been really good pair for us,” he said. “We like it, so we haven’t changed that.”

They rated as one of the NHL’s best duos and had been the one constant on the Rangers’ D corps through eight games but finished with a minus-two rating in what was easily their shakiest performance yet.

That prompted Laviolette to change his mind and go back to a couple familiar pairings for the third period. Fox was reunited with long-time partner Ryan Lindgren, while Miller rejoined captain Jacob Trouba.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.