Rangers Open Season with 5-1 Loss to Caps
It was not the way the Rangers had hoped opening night would go, but when you go up against one of the greatest to ever play, nobody said it would be easy.
That was the case on Opening Night in Washington D.C. last night as future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin proved to be too much for the Blue Shirts, scoring two goals in the Capitals 5-1 victory.
Ovechkin’s two goals moved him past Marcel Dionne for fifth all time in goals scored with 732. He needs just nine more goals to pass Brett Hull (741). The 36-year old Ovechkin has a ways to go to catch the “Great One” himself, Wayne Gretzky, who is first all time with 894 goals scored.
Ovechkin’s two goals came in the third period, with the game pretty much well in hand with Washington up 3-0 going into the final period.
The Rangers only goal of the night came on a Power Play goal by Chris Krieder 9:13 into the third period.
New York really struggled with its discipline on the ice, getting called for 10 penalties. Two of them went to Patrick Nemeth for slashing; two others went to Sammy Blais for roughing.
Alexander Georgiev got the start behind the net for the Blue Shirts, and really struggled allowing all five goals on 27 shots.
The Rangers have no time to think about it, they face a quick turnaround on Thursday when they face the Dallas Stars in front of the home crowd at Madison Square Garden at 7 p.m.