Rangers Defeated Alex Ovechkin and Capitals 6-3 at Verizon Center in Washington Friday

Photo Credit AP

The New York Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals 6-3 Thursday afternoon (11/25/11) by playing an excellent road game. Job One was to slow down Alex Ovechkin and the defensive pairing of Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh did just that. Ovechkin was held in check but did score on a fantastic wrist shot from the left side, shooting through Girardi for the goal. The Rangers were held scoreless for the first period but scored 3 goals in the 2nd period in less than five minutes. Marian Gaborik scored his 10th goal of the season to give the Rangers the early 1-0 lead in the 2nd period. Ruslan Fedotenko scored two goals and captain Ryan Callahan had 3 assists to lead the way. The Rangers were able to move the puck well, cycle and generated scoring chances. Brad Richards and Artem Anisimov each scored a goal and added an assist. Girardi added offensively as well with 2 assists. Carl Hagelin played in the the game of his NHL career for the Rangers and scored his first point by adding an assist. The difference is this game compared to the two previous losses was that the Rangers played excellent team defense that lead to the offensive scoring chances. Goalkeeper Henrik Lundqvist made 18-of-21 saves. The three stars of the game were Callahan, Girardi and Capital John Carlson.