NEW YORK _ If you watch enough NHL games, you're going to see some funky things over time. But no one involved in Sunday's Rangers-Washington Capitals game could ever recall seeing a game end as this one did _ where the winning goal didn't come on a shot that actually crossed the goal line, but instead was awarded by rule.
Alex Ovechkin, who'd been stuffed on six shots by Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev _ including one on a breakaway in overtime _ got credit for the game-winning goal in the Capitals' 3-2 shootout victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden when the officials ruled that Georgiev had thrown his stick at Ovechkin as Ovechkin was about to shoot the puck into an empty net on the deciding shootout attempt.
"I knew 100 percent it's a goal, because it was an empty net, and he threw his stick," Ovechkin said afterward. "But I was surprised at the first reaction of the referees. It's nice to have replay."
