WASHINGTON – With all that was happening off the ice, it was difficult to pay attention to the game the Rangers were playing against the Washington Capitals Saturday afternoon. Patrick Kane reportedly left his Chicago teammates in San Jose and flew home, Vitali Kravtsov got traded to the Vancouver Canucks, and forward Jake Leschyshyn was placed on waivers, all things that suggest the pieces of a Kane-to-the-Rangers trade are falling into place.
And then, on the ice, against a Capitals team that threw in the towel on the season Thursday with its trade of defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway, the Rangers laid an egg, giving up four goals in a horrendous second period and losing, 6-3, to the Capitals, who snapped a six-game losing streak.
For the Rangers, the loss was their fourth straight — and third straight in regulation. And to make matters worse, the game wasn’t the only thing the Blueshirts lost. Defenseman Ryan Lindgren left the game midway through the first period with what the Rangers called an upper-body injury, after he was crunched into the boards by Washington forward T.J. Oshie.
Oshie, by the way, had two goals and an assist in the game, while Evgeny Kuznetsov had two goals as well, and Tom Wilson and Long Islander Sonny Milano also scored for Washington, which improved to 29-26-6. The Rangers fell to 33-17-9. They play again Sunday, when they face the Los Angeles Kings at Madison Square Garden.
They will likely have to make a roster move for that game unless, for salary cap reasons, they choose to dress only 17 skaters, presuming Lindgren won’t be able to play.
Kravtsov and Leschyshyn, who were famously deemed unavailable for Thursday’s 4-1 loss to Detroit “due to roster management reasons,’’ did not skate at the Rangers’ optional practice Friday, and were both scratched again and in the press box as healthy scratches Saturday. Both left before the game was over, however.
Meanwhile, on the ice, Igor Shesterkin was back in goal after sitting out Thursday’s loss. And Shesterkin looked to be sharp. He stopped seven of eight shots in the first period, but he had two memorable saves, a glove stop on Dylan Strome, who was all alone in the lower-right wing circle, 2:02 into the game, and a fantastic left to right slide to kick away a shot by Trevor van Riemsdyk, alone at the back post at 14:20.
In between, Washington took a 1-0 lead at 4:25, when Oshie tipped in a shot by Erik Gustafsson on a power play, and the Rangers tied it, 1-1, when Barclay Goodrow tipped in a shot by Tyler Motte, at 8:00.
Seconds later, Oshie and Goodrow fought, after Oshie had injured Lindgren when he drove him into the boards near center ice. Lindgren left for the locker room at 8:11 and Oshie — who’d shown concern for Lindgren as he lay on the ice injured — was not penalized for the hit. So, upon the ensuing faceoff, Goodrow and Oshie dropped the gloves immediately and went at it.
The Caps scored four times in the second period, with Oshie, Wilson, Milano and Kuznetsov getting the goals, and Shesterkin was replaced by Jaroslav Halak to start the third. Chris Kreider scored on a five-on-three to pull the Rangers within 5-2, but Kuznetsov’s second goal made it 6-2. Kaapo Kakko's goal ended the scoring.
