Rangers can't hold off red-hot Capitals at The Garden

2010-11 Game No. 15; Home Game No. 8		Rangers' Record: 7-7-1
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GAME RECAP By Jim Cerny, newyorkrangers.com On Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, facing one of the league’s elite teams in the Washington Capitals, the Rangers played with an intensity and passion that is more often associated with a playoff game than an early-season contest. The Rangers found a way to contain Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin and his high-scoring linemates Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom. And the Blueshirts grabbed three separate one-goal leads as Brian Boyle scored a pair, and Derek Boogaard netted his first goal in 235 games. That they still dropped a 5-3 home-ice decision to the Capitals explains why this was, perhaps, the Rangers’ most frustrating defeat of the young season. “It’s a really disappointing one for us (Tuesday) night because I thought we did play pretty well,” said defenseman Dan Girardi, who teamed with partner Marc Staal to keep Ovechkin’s line in check throughout. “We gave ourselves the chance to win. We had a couple of leads there, but they got a couple of breaks, and at the same time we had a couple of breakdowns. It’s a tough one for the guys.” Battling for every inch of ice on Tuesday, the Rangers played with collective grit and fortitude. That helped them forge leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the opening period, and 3-2 early in the second period. And it helped them limit the Caps to only nine shots on goal over the game’s final 40 minutes. Unfortunately for the home team, an opportunistic Caps squad  ... • READ THE FULL STORY | PHOTO GALLERY

PHOTO OF THE GAME STAT OF THE GAME Derek Boogaard's goal at 3:15 of the second period snapped a 234-game goa-lless drought, dating back nearly five years to Jan. 7, 2006. Boogaard ended his streak 21 games shy of former New Jersey defenseman Ken Danyeko’s record, 255-game stretch. THREE STARS (selected by newyorkrangers.com) 1. Brian Boyle 2. Dan Girardi 3. R. Callahan

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THE BIGGER PICTURE It is very tough to beat Cup favorite without three veterans, including your top scorer. Yet the Rangers led  3-2 in the second period and were tied after 40 minutes. It's impossible to envision the same third period with Gaborik, Drury and Prospal in the lineup.

RANGERS LEADERS Time on Ice -- Girardi (24:47) Shots -- Boyle (5) Hits -- Callahan (5) Blocked Shots -- Callahan (5) Takeaways -- Frolov (2) Faceoffs Taken -- Boyle (18)

NEW YORK RANGERS LINEUP VS. WASHINGTON
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Brandon Dubinsky	Artem Anisimov	Ryan Callahan
Sean Avery	Brian Boyle	Brandon Prust
Alex Frolov	Derek Stepan	Ruslan Fedotenko
Derek Boogaard	Erik Christensen	Todd White

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Marc Staal	Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto	Michal Rozsival
Steve Eminger	Michael Sauer
Goaltenders: Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Biron Starting Lineup: Lundqvist, Del Zotto, Rozsival, Avery, Boyle, Prust.

POWER PLAY UNITS
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Alex Frolov	Brandon Dubinsky	Ryan Callahan
Brian Boyle	Derek Stepan	Artem Anisimov

POINT MEN
Left Point	Right Point
Michal Rozsival	Michael Del Zotto
Marc Staal	Dan Girardi

PENALTY KILLING UNITS
FORWARD UNITS
Forward	Forward
Ryan Callahan	Brandon Dubinsky
Ruslan Fedotenko	Artem Anisimov
Brandon Prust	Brian Boyle

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Marc Staal	Dan Girardi
Eminger/Del Zotto	Michal Rozsival