Fedorov nets decisive goal as Washington advances
They lived with the pain for over a year. It drove them in the summer and got them through the dog days of the NHL regular season when it seemed as if the Stanley Cup playoffs would never start.
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But when Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals finally arrived on Tuesday night it was as if no time at all had passed between last April and this one.
The bitter memories of the Game 7 overtime loss in 2008 may never completely go away for the Capitals. But they were also the furthest thing from anyone’s mind at Verizon Center as the final seconds of this year’s Game 7 ticked away and a sellout crowd unleashed an ear-splitting roar.
Unable to finish their series comeback last spring, the Caps did so in style against the New York Rangers.
No. 2 Capitals
vs. No. 4 Penguins
Sat., 5/2 @ Capitals, 1 p.m., NBC
Mon., 5/4 @ Capitals, 7 p.m., VERSUS
Wed., 5/6 @ Penguins, 7 p.m., VERSUS
Fri., 5/8 @ Penguins, 7 p.m., VERSUS
*Sat., 5/9 @ Capitals, 7 p.m., VERSUS
*Mon., 5/11 @ Penguins, TBD, VERSUS
*Wed., 5/13 @ Capitals, 7 p.m., VERSUS
* – if necessaryX.
Veteran forward Sergei Fedorov showed he had a little magic left in that 39-year-old body. The man who helped beat the Caps the last time they made it beyond the first round — in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998 with Detroit — scored from the right faceoff circle with 4 minutes, 59 seconds left in the third period to lift Washington to a 2-1 win.
“I don’t think I could breath the last five minutes,” Fedorov said as the seconds ebbed away and Verizon Center’s crowd grew deafening. The Rangers were so rattled they couldn’t even get in position to pull goalie Henrik Lundqvist as they pushed for the tying goal.
With the victory, the Caps became just the 21st team in NHL history out of 230 to overcome a 3-1 series deficit. They are also just the 38th team out of 292 to recover from 2-0 down. It is the first time the Rangers have ever blown a 3-1 series lead. Washington fell behind the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 last season, rallied to force a Game 7 at home, but ultimately lost, 3-2, in overtime.
“Shades of last year tonight, though,” said Caps forward Brooks Laich, whose team produced just two shots in the first period and was outplayed through two periods. “It was in the back of our minds because last year’s game was tight and [went] into overtime. … [After losing] your body goes numb and it feels like somebody just ripped your heart out. Tonight — totally different feeling.”
The Rangers took an early 1-0 lead after outworking the Caps in the far corner. Eventually, Sean Avery sent a pass out front that let Brandon Dubinsky put a move on Caps rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov (14 saves). He made the initial stop, but Nik Antropov was there for the rebound at 5:35.
“They were relentless,” Caps defenseman Brian Pothier said of New York’s forechecking pressure. “Any time you give a team with that much speed the ability to turn it back on you over and over its going to be a long night.”
But while the Caps played like a team with the weight of the world on its shoulders in the first period they caught a big break, too. One of their two first-period shots — from Alex Semin — bounced off the stick and skate of Ryan Callahan and knuckled past Lundqvist at 15:34 to tie the score at 1. That was it for the scoring until Fedorov’s goal, the tension mounting with each passing minute.
Varlamov again matched Lundqvist, who allowed a glove-side goal on Fedorov’s shot, but stopped 22 of the 24 he faced. Varlamov, who already had two shutouts in the series, stopped 14 of 15 New York shots. He allowed just eight goals in six games in the series, stopping 152 of 160 shots (.950) with a 1.34 goals-against average.
Washington also welcomed back captain Chris Clark, who slid onto the fourth line thanks to the six-game suspension of Donald Brashear. It was a huge leap for a player who had missed the final 33 of the regular season and the first six of the postseason. Clark played 8:13 and took 11 shifts.
“Chris showed tonight why he’s our captain and why he’s our leader,” said defenseman Tom Poti, who himself won a playoff series for the first time.
Clark’s last postseason appearance was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in 2004 when he played for the Calgary Flames. The series win was also a first for veteran forward Viktor Kozlov.
And then there was Fedorov, who has scored so many big goals in his career — 12 game winners in all. He took a pass from teammate Matt Bradley and streaked up the right wing, suddenly stopping to give himself some room against a Rangers defensemen. That’s when he decided to shoot and rifled the puck over Lundqvist’s catching glove before getting buried under a pile of delirious teammates. Five harrowing minutes later the Caps’ comeback was complete.
“We had to win,” said Washington general manager George McPhee, who noted he couldn’t move from his suite for almost 30 minutes after last season’s devastating overtime loss. “You can’t just have good seasons and not win in the playoffs. We had to win tonight.”
