ESPN NHL

Rangers 2, Capitals 1 – NYR win series 4-3
* Rangers improve to 5-0 all-time in home Game 7s; 5 straight Game 7 wins at home are tied for 2nd-most all-time (Bruins won 6 straight from 1983-94)
* Rangers advance to Eastern Conference finals for 1st time since 1997 (lost to Flyers); have home-ice against Devils
* Neither the Rangers nor their opponent have scored more than 3 goals in 13 straight playoff games, the longest streak in a single postseason
* 13 of 14 Capitals games in playoffs were decided by 1 goal; despite only playing 2 rounds, that is just 3 short of NHL playoff record (Hurricanes, 16 games in 2006)
* Alex Ovechkin: 0 goals, 8 shots in 4 losses to Rangers (3 goals on 14 shots in 3 wins)

FROM ELIAS: The Rangers and Capitals alternated wins throughout their series. It was the sixth such seven-game playoff series in NHL history, and the first since the 2003 Eastern Conference finals between John Tortorella's Lightning and the Flyers.

FROM ELIAS: The Rangers defeated the Capitals, 2-1, capping the first seven-game playoff series in NHL history in which no team scored more than three goals in any game. Honorable mention to the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs, neither of which scored more than three goals in any of the six games in their 2002 Eastern Conference finals.

The Rangers advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the New Jersey Devils but coach John Tortorella is only worried about his squad.

Barry Melrose explains that the Rangers' complete game effort was the difference in their game 7 win over the Capitals.

* Home teams are 86-57 all-time in Game 7s
* Capitals: all 7 playoff wins (and 5 of 6 losses) have been by one goal; FROM ELIAS: with another one-goal game, they would be 2nd team in last 5 years to play 13 such games in one postseason (NHL record is 16, by Hurricanes in 2006)
* Capitals: seeking to become 70th team to rally from 3-2 deficit and win series (this is the 144th Game 7); 2 of 3 teams to force Game 7 after trailing 3-2 in conference quarterfinals this season won the series
* Rangers: neither New York nor opponent has scored more than 3 goals in last 12 playoff games; FROM ELIAS: that is a single-season NHL playoff record
* Rangers: 4-0 all-time in home Game 7s

Number of games played in rounds 1 and 2 by the eventual Stanley Cup winner since 1987, the first year all rounds were best-of-seven:

1987: Edmonton, 9
1988: Edmonton, 9
1989: Calgary, 11
1990: Edmonton, 11
1991: Pittsburgh, 12
1992: Pittsburgh, 13
1993: Montreal, 10
1994: New York Rangers, 9
1995: New Jersey, 10
1996: Colorado, 12
1997: Detroit, 10
1998: Detroit, 12
1999: Dallas, 10
2000: New Jersey, 10
2001: Colorado, 11
2002: Detroit, 11
2003: New Jersey, 10
2004: Tampa Bay, 9
2005: Lockout
2006: Carolina, 11
2007: Anaheim, 10
2008: Detroit, 10
2009: Pittsburgh, 13
2010: Chicago, 12
2011: Boston, 11
2012: (New York Rangers-Washington will be at 14 through 2 rounds after Saturday's game)

• The Capitals evened their series against the Rangers at three wins apiece with a 2-1 victory in Game 6 on Wednesday night in Washington. Alex Ovechkin gave the Caps a lead they would never relinquish with a power-play goal only 1:28 after the opening faceoff. It was the 30th playoff goal of Ovechkin's NHL career, coming in his 50th postseason game. He's the first NHL player to score at least 30 goals in his first 50 Stanley Cup playoff games since Joe Sakic reached the 50-game mark with 33 goals in May 1997.

• The Rangers weren't able to eliminate the Capitals, but they did set one NHL playoff record and tie another with their 2-1 loss in Washington. The Rangers' current streak of 12 consecutive games in which neither they nor their opponent scored more than three goals is a new single-year NHL playoff record, breaking the old mark of 11 set by Carolina in 2002. The Rangers have also tied the record of 12 consecutive games in one playoff year in which a team and its opponent combined to score five or fewer goals set by Boston in 1939.

• All 7 of the Capitals wins this postseason (and 5 of their 6 losses) have been by 1 goal. They are the 3rd team in the last 5 seasons to have at least 12 1-goal games in a single postseason. The all-time record is 16 by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.

Braden “Halt”by? The Rangers might lead the Capitals in the series, but don’t expect it to end tonight. Caps goalie Braden Holtby has won each of his last 10 decisions in games following a loss (regular season and postseason combined). That includes a 5-0 record this postseason without allowing more than two goals in any of those games. He hasn’t lost consecutive decisions since a three-game stretch in November 2010.

The Rangers look to close out the Eastern Conference semifinals on the road on Wednesday at 7:30 ET.

Barry Melrose on how the Rangers and Capitals series will go 7 games.

• Behind Mike Smith, the Coyotes beat the Predators, 2-1, to advance to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. Smith did not allow a goal in Game 5 until 14:01 of the 3rd period, extending his shutout streak to 164 minutes, 45 seconds, the longest postseason streak in the history of the Phoenix/Winnipeg franchise.

• Brad Richards scored the game-tying goal with 6.6 seconds remaining in the 3rd period and then Marc Staal scored the game-winner just 1:35 into overtime as the Rangers shocked the Capitals, 3-2, taking a 3-2 lead in the series. Both goals were power-play goals, following a double-minor penalty to Joel Ward with 21.3 seconds left in the 3rd period. Not only that, but those goals were historic: This was the first game in the history of the NHL playoffs in which a team scored a tying goal in the last 10 seconds of the third period, then scored the game-winner within the first two minutes of overtime.

The previous record for the earliest overtime goal by a team that had tied the score in the last 10 seconds of regulation time was held by the Kings in the "Miracle on Manchester," when Daryl Evans scored at 2:35 of overtime to beat Wayne Gretzky's Oilers, 6-5. Steve Bozek had tied that game with 5 seconds remaining in the third period, as the Kings scored 5 times in the 3rd period to wipe out the Oilers' 5-0 lead.

This is the first postseason in NHL history in which there were three games in which a game-tying goal was scored in the final 15 seconds of regulation.

ESPN NHL Analyst Barry Melrose says the Capitals ability to score more 5-on-5 goals than the Rangers is the difference maker in this series so far.

• Mike Green's power-play goal with 5:48 remaining in the third period snapped a 2-2 tie and the Capitals preserved their one-goal lead for a 3-2 victory in Game 4 of their series against the Rangers. It was the first game-winning goal of the veteran defenseman's playoff career. Green led all NHL defensemen with 12 game-winning goals over a three-season span from 2007-08 through 2009-10 (four GWGs each season), but he has scored only one game-winner in each of two injury-plagued seasons since then.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Bison burgers, walks, babies, grass seed, dogs and license renewals were all part of the recuperative menu for the Washington Capitals as they tried to put the crushing disappointment of a triple-overtime loss Wednesday night behind them.

The Capitals and the New York Rangers went almost six full periods in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal before Brad Richards found Marian Gaborik in front of the Capitals net and Gaborik ended the contest at 14:41 of the third overtime to give the Rangers a 2-1 series lead heading into a Game 4 matinee in Washington on Saturday.

For the Rangers, their road to recovery will mean fewer mental acrobatics than the path traveled by the Capitals.

The Rangers remained in Washington after Game 3 and on Thursday engaged in a variety of activities, including a visit for some to Arlington National Cemetery before resuming practice Friday.

The Capitals also had Thursday off but being at home followed a many and varied path to restoring themselves mentally and physically for Saturday’s crucial tilt.

"I think eating a lot and drinking a lot, getting a lot of fluids in you and obviously rest. I took probably two or three naps yesterday, just half-hour naps throughout the day," explained Caps center Jay Beagle, who played 35:04 in Game 3, almost twice what he would play in a normal game. "I was constantly eating when I was awake, just trying to get my weight back up because I lost probably 10 pounds after the game; I was down a lot of weight. Just trying to get my weight back up and the fluids back in me. Today will be the same, eating all day and drinking."

Beagle's instant weight-on diet included lots of nuts, fruits and granola.

"Ate a lot of beef jerky and steak and bison burger. I went over to Karl's for some bison burgers, a lot of good fats, avocados, nuts. Even made a couple of nasty shots of olive oil and avocado oil, stuff like that," Beagle said, referring to teammate Karl Alzner, who was in charge of grilling for some teammates.

Roman Hamrlik, who had 38:43 of ice time in Game 3, admitted he wasn't feeling great Thursday morning.

"We played almost two games in one night. You see how everybody was tired when the game was going on and on," he said. "Yesterday was a little bit tough day for me, but I just tried to spend time; I just watch TV. I watched the hockey game last night, had a good sleep, so I feel good today."

Hamrlik's defense partner, Mike Green, was also out and about Thursday, trying to separate himself from the disappointment of the Game 3 loss.

"I went for a walk down to Theodore Roosevelt Island. Do you know where that is? Just down by the water," he said. "Did that, walked up, had a salad, went home, rested had a nap, a good two-hour nap, and then the girlfriend cooked dinner and I rested most of the night."

Like many of his teammates, Green was trying to enjoy time away from the game, even though he did check in on Thursday’s games at the end.

"I think you've got to step away too. That’s why I went for a walk, just try and get my legs going and my mind away from it," he said.

It might not have been relaxing, but at least it was a fruitful day for Joel Ward, who finally got his driver's license renewed.

"I spent the day at the DMV," said Ward, who scored the Game 7 overtime winner that propelled the Capitals past the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins and into the second round. "I had to get new license plates. It had to get done. If I got pulled over one more time for my expired plates, I was in trouble. That actually takes a load off the shoulders, to be honest."

Matt Hendricks helped create the best scoring chance for the Capitals in overtime of Game 3 when he knocked Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh off the puck deep in the Rangers zone and fed linemate Troy Brouwer in front of the net early in the first overtime period. But Brouwer couldn't convert.

On Thursday, Hendricks went to the practice facility for a dunk in the cold tub and then home for some well-earned domestic chores, which included putting down some grass seed and fertilizer on his lawn.

"Set the sprinkler system up; just tried to get a little vitamin D," Hendricks said.

The father of 6-month-old twins, Hendricks enjoyed the sun and the chance to play Dad.

"I sat right in the lawn chair and kind of held the babies and played with them and realized life's good," he said.

The Capitals have not lost back-to-back games in regulation since the middle of March, and the consensus is that this is a much tougher team mentally than earlier versions that have fallen short of expectations in the playoffs. Against Boston in the first round, they trailed 1-0 and 2-1, as is the case in this series against the Rangers, the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

"I think we are mentally tougher," Hendricks said. "We've talked a lot about the adversity we've gone through throughout the course of the season. I think that's benefited us. I think when things are getting tough on us as a group, we stick to our systems well. We don't deviate away from them the way we used to, where we'd get down a goal or two or we'd get individual; we’d try to do things on our own. Now I think we're relying on our system, on our teammates, and it's benefiting us."

On Saturday afternoon, we’ll find out whether all those rest-and-recovery strategies did the trick.

• The Rangers’ victory continued the pattern of wins by the road team in marathon overtime games. Visiting teams have won 31 of the 45 playoff games in NHL history which lasted three overtimes or more and the road team has prevailed in 20 of 28 such games since 1987.

• Wednesday's win was only the second postseason shutout in Nashville franchise history. The first Predators playoff whitewash was a 3–0 win by Tomas Vokoun against Detroit in a first-round series in 2004.

• Jason Chimera scored a goal in the Capitals’ 3–2 win over the Rangers in Game 2 of their series on Monday. Chimera has scored four goals in seven career playoff games against the Rangers and only two goals in 24 playoff games against all other opponents.

Alex Ovechkin ended the worst playoff scoring drought of his NHL career with a third-period game-winning goal for the Capitals. Ovechkin did not record a point in the Capitals’ Game 7 victory at Boston in the first round or in Game 1 of the current series versus the Rangers. It was the first time that Ovechkin has been held without a point in consecutive playoff games in his NHL career. (Ovechkin has now played in 46 NHL playoff games.)

• Jonathan Quick has won his last seven road playoff games and he hasn’t allowed more than two goals in any of those games. Only three other goaltenders in NHL history won seven straight road playoff games while allowing no more than two goals in any of them: Ken Dryden (eight-game streak from 1977 to 1978), Turk Broda (eight-game streak, 1948-1950) and Martin Brodeur (seven-game streak in 1995).

Dustin Brown recorded the second three-assist game of his NHL career to lead the Kings to a 5–2 win at St. Louis and a 2–0 lead in their second-round series. Brown’s other three-assist game was in a regular-season L.A. victory at Toronto on Jan. 26, 2010. Brown has four shorthanded points this postseason (two goals, two assists); over the last 15 years the only player with that many in one postseason was Henrik Zetterberg, who had five shorthanded points in 2007.