Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals take the ice at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. for Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Round 2 best-of-seven series as part of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Washington looks to take a commanding 3-1 series lead before the set shifts back to Madison Square Garden while New York will look to find its scoring touch and tie things up at 2-2.
After these teams split both games in the Big Apple with the Capitals winning Game 1 by a 2-1 score on a buzzer-beater and the Rangers getting even with a 3-2 victory in Game 2, the Caps blanked the Blueshirts 1-0 in Game 3 on Monday.
Game 4 can be live streamed for free here.
Jay Beagle scored his first goal of the Stanley Cup playoffs after the puck bounced off Rangers defenseman Keith Yandle's skate and in, and the tally held up as the game-winner to give the Capitals momentum in the series.
The Rangers have four goals through the first three games of this series and coach Alain Vigneault hopes that the team can get its big guns going, especially on the top line.
"Players have to find ways to contribute," Vigneault said via NHL.com. "It is tight hockey. On different nights you get different guys that are difference-makers. I think [Derick Brassard's] line with [Rick] Nash and [Martin St. Louis] are close to being difference-makers. They are playing the right way both offensively and defensively. You have to stick with the process and believe in the process and think that in these tight games, sooner or later, it is going to pay off."
Brassard has paced the President's Trophy-winning Blueshirts with four goals in the postseason and is tied with Nash (one tally, four helpers) with a team-best five points.
Nash's one goal is notably troubling while St. Louis has just two assists through eight playoff games. Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin each have two markers and two helpers for four points in the playoffs.
All eight of the Rangers games this postseason have been decided by one goal.
The Capitals have the momentum on their side this series, but head coach Barry Trotz believes there are several areas in which his club can improve -- including from the opening draw.
"[The players] have to fix it," Trotz told NHL.com. "It's up to them. It's up to them to be mentally ready. I think I could give a real good motivational speech and all that, but it comes down to the individual athlete to be ready, understand that they're playing a quick-start team. And we have to be better in the first [period]."
Alex Ovechkin has been lights-out in the playoffs this spring, putting together four goals and four assists to rank first on the team with eight points. Rookie Evgeni Kuznetsov also has four markers and has added one helper for five points while Nicklas Backstrom has lit the lamp three times and added four assists for seven points.
Joel Ward, who plays with Ovechkin and Backstrom on the top line, has found the twine twice and added four assists for six points.
In the crease, Washington turns to Braden Holtby and he is 5-4 with a 1.54 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage thus far this postseason.
New York counters with Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes and he is 5-3 with a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage in these playoffs.
The Rangers hope to level the series while the Capitals look to take a commanding 3-1 lead when the lights come up tonight on Game 4 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. as part of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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