Zuccarello, Zibanejad lead Rangers past Caps 1-0 in shootout
Ondrej Pavelec and Philipp Grubauer were unbeatable for 65 minutes. Pavelec kept it up in the shootout, and the New York Rangers finally found a way to score on the Washington Capitals’ goalie.
Mats Zuccarello and Mika Zibanejad scored in the tiebreaker to lift the Rangers to a 1-0 victory over their Metropolitan Division rivals on Wednesday night.
Pavelec stopped all 30 shots he faced through overtime and then denied T.J. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin in the shootout. The backup goalie’s first shutout this season and the 18th of his career helped the Rangers improve to 4-1-1 in their last six games.
“We played really well defensively, especially in the third period,” Pavelec said. “We had a great start. We set the tone in the first period. The second period we were up and down. … That’s a really dangerous team if you put them on the power play and I think we did a great job. Overall, I think we can be happy with the effort and move on.”
After neither team could get anything past the backup goalies through overtime, Zuccarello finally put one past Grubauer on the first shootout attempt as he skated in, moved to the right and beat the Washington goalie with a backhand. Pavelec then stopped Oshie and, after Zibanejad also beat Grubauer from the right side, the Rangers’ goalie denied Ovechkin to secure the win.
Asked what he was thinking as Ovechkin was approaching on his attempt, Pavelec said: “That I have to make the save. That’s pretty much all you can do, just focus on you. … He has some moves and he can shoot the puck really well. I was just trying to be patient and be square. Actually, I didn’t make that save, he missed the net.”
Ondrej Pavelec and Philipp Grubauer were unbeatable for 65 minutes. Pavelec kept it up in the shootout, and the New York Rangers finally found a way to score on the Washington Capitals’ goalie.
Mats Zuccarello and Mika Zibanejad scored in the tiebreaker to lift the Rangers to a 1-0 victory over their Metropolitan Division rivals on Wednesday night.
Pavelec stopped all 30 shots he faced through overtime and then denied T.J. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin in the shootout. The backup goalie’s first shutout this season and the 18th of his career helped the Rangers improve to 4-1-1 in their last six games.
“We played really well defensively, especially in the third period,” Pavelec said. “We had a great start. We set the tone in the first period. The second period we were up and down. … That’s a really dangerous team if you put them on the power play and I think we did a great job. Overall, I think we can be happy with the effort and move on.”
After neither team could get anything past the backup goalies through overtime, Zuccarello finally put one past Grubauer on the first shootout attempt as he skated in, moved to the right and beat the Washington goalie with a backhand. Pavelec then stopped Oshie and, after Zibanejad also beat Grubauer from the right side, the Rangers’ goalie denied Ovechkin to secure the win.
Asked what he was thinking as Ovechkin was approaching on his attempt, Pavelec said: “That I have to make the save. That’s pretty much all you can do, just focus on you. … He has some moves and he can shoot the puck really well. I was just trying to be patient and be square. Actually, I didn’t make that save, he missed the net.”
Source:-Â https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2017/12/27/zuccarello-zibanejad-lead-rangers-past-caps-1-0-in-shootout/108963848/
