The New Jersey Devils already punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals last night, now the New York Rangers can join them for the first time since 1997. The Rangers look to close out their series against the Washington Capitals in Game 6 Wednesday night, and reach the conference championship for the first time in 15 years.
”We want to close it out and get this over with. It’s a lot easier said than done,” Rangers forward Brad Richards told the Associated Press. ”We want to be as desperate as they are.”
The Rangers have been desperate, alright. They were down 3-2 to the 7th-seeded Capitals on Monday with just under 10 seconds remaining before Richards tied it with his wrister. Just a 1 1/2 minutes into overtime Marc Staal punched through another goal to win it.
”You can’t really write that; that’s something you can’t script. You keep moving forward,” Washington forward Brooks Laich said. ”Good breaks, bad breaks. We just keep moving forward.”
The Capitals didn’t get the same desperation out of their stars in Game 5. Former MVP Alex Ovechkin had zero shots for just the second time in his short playoff career after being benched for big minutes throughout the series. Washington hasn’t won any of the last seven faceoffs and couldn’t control New York on the power play.
”Everyone’s realizing that: Let’s just get it out of our heads now. Let’s just focus on what we need to focus on,” defenseman John Carlson told the AP. ”That stuff happens. It’s no one’s fault. There’s no one to blame.”
The one thing Washington can hang it’s hat on is the back-and-forth nature of the series. It hasn’t lost consecutive games since late March and are 3-0 after overtime losses in this postseason.
”We control our emotions a little better. I mean, even when we win, we’re not bouncing off the ceiling. It’s more of a business atmosphere. And when we lose, we know we can bounce back,” Laich said. ”I mean, we have a very good hockey team. We never get too high, never get too low. We stay pretty composed.”
Coming out strong to start will likely be the key. According to the AP, Washington is 6-1 when it scores the first goal, compared to 0-5 when its opponent does.
”The start is always big. You want to try to get momentum as quick as you can. 
That’s always the focus,” Rangers forward Brian Boyle told the AP. ”I just expect their intensity to ramp up even more. We have to do the same and match it.”
Bovada’s Rangers vs. Capitals Team Props have New York favored to score first at -110. Washington is listed with -120 odds.
The Capitals are favored by 1 1/2 goals, according to Bovada’s Rangers vs. Capitals Betting Lines, with a -110 moneyline.