The Rangers finished off a sweep of the Washington Capitals with a 4-2 victory in Game 4 of their first-round series Sunday night at Capital One Arena.
Kaapo Kakko, Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin scored for the Blueshirts while Jack Roslovic added an empty-net, power-play goal with 51 seconds left.
The Rangers advance to a second-round date in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the winner of the series between the Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes.
Igor Shesterkin was terrific in goal again, making 21 saves. He allowed only seven goals in the series.
The Rangers have now beaten the Caps each of the past four times that they have met in the playoffs.
Here are the takeaways:
– Special teams were a huge part of the game, as they have been throughout the series. The Rangers scored three power-play goals, including Panarin’s third-period tie-breaker. Overall, the Rangers were 6-for-16 (37.5 percent) with a man advantage in the series while their penalty-kill unit continually frustrated the Caps. The Rangers killed two penalties Sunday night and were 15-for-17 (88.2 percent) in the series.
– Alex Ovechkin led the Caps with 31 goals during the regular season and he’s one of the greatest scorers in NHL history, sitting behind only Wayne Gretzky on the all-time goals list. But the Rangers did not allow him to be a factor in the series. Ovechkin did not have a point in the four games.
– The Rangers scored just 57 seconds into the game, thanks in large part to a bad giveaway by Caps defenseman Nick Jensen, who made his first appearance in the series. Under pressure from Will Cuylle’s forecheck, Jensen’s turnover put the puck on Kakko’s stick in the slot. He fired it past Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren for an unassisted goal. Kakko was the 10th different Ranger to score a goal in the series, showing the remarkable depth of the Blueshirts. It was also the fourth playoff goal of Kakko’s career.
– The first period, especially early on, was played at a frenetic pace, with both teams creating chances and zipping from end to end. It was great action and the Caps had a couple of early chances, but Shesterkin turned them away. Mika Zibanejad bungled into a turnover that gave Dylan Strome the puck in the middle about 20 seconds after Kakko’s goal, but Shesterkin got his glove on it. About 10 minutes or so later, Shesterkin stopped Tom Wilson in front, point blank, and sprawled to get into position to save a rebound chance, but Wilson’s try hit the side of…