The NY Rangers and Washington Capitals are playing on Wednesday night for Game 4 of the eastern conference first round playoffs series and the matchup from Verizon Center is on the NBC Sports Network and NBCSN Live Extra website and the game starts at 7:30 pm ET as Alex Ovechkin and Rick Nash match up with Braden Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist take the nets.
The Rangers won the second game of the series after losing Game 1 and the Caps bounced back and won Game 3 with a fluke goal that went in past Lundqvist. That was the only goal of the game and the Rangers could not muster anything against Holtby. The Rangers actually had a ton of chances in the game, but they could not put together a goal and now the team is in major danger in this series.
The Rangers won more games on the road than any other team in the NHL this season and that makes this a huge matchup. The Rangers do not want to go down two games in this series and they have to find a way to score some goals. The team had the most points in the NHL this season and after making a Stanley Cup run last year, the Rangers have as good of a chance to do it again.
The team knocked out former Cup winners in the Penguins and the Kings did not even make it into the playoffs in the west. The NHL is wide open this season and the Rangers could end up wasting the best regular season they have had if they can't make iot. The team has gone down 3-1 in the second round before, doing that to the Penguins last season, but last year the Pens had home ice, not the Rangers.
Apart from a lapse at the end of Game 1 and the goal in Game 3, the team has played very well in the losses and now they have to find a way to clean it up on Wednesday night. The team is not getting enough production from its top players and names like Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis and Derick Brassard need to step up. Brassard had a huge goal in Game 2 and also had a strong performance in Game 3, but everyone needs to step up now.
Alain Vigneault does not panic and he has his team ready for this match up on Wednesday, saying that the loss is already behind the team. Game 5 will be on Friday ay MSG and the Rangers are hoping they come in with things tied up. The rangers made it to the finals last season and went down 3-0 against the Kings and now they will try and bounce back after a very tough loss that saw Holtby put up a shutout against the team, the second time he has done that to the Rangers in the playoffs.
Check here for the NY Rangers and Washington Capitals live coverage.
