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Rangers Vs. Capitals: No Power Play Goals, No Luck, No Offense, No Victory.

No recap tonight, so we’re jumping right into the Notes.

– Second overtime game in this series in Washington, and the Capitals have won both of them. The Rangers, I’m convinced, will never get a bounce in Washington during the playoffs. The puck hits John Moore, hurts him and then the ensuing shot falls right to Mike Ribeiro’s stick? Come on.

– The Rangers how now lost 10 of 11 playoff games in Washington. Ouch.

– If the Rangers lose this series a majority of the blame needs to fall on two places: Rick Nash and the coaching staff. John Tortorella and Mike Sullivan have done nothing to shake up or fix the power play. The Rangers are 2-for-21 with the man advantage in the series. They were 0-for-4 on Friday. Think that had a factor in the game?

– And for Nash, where was he? He sure is playing like he’s injured. No jump, no willingness to lug the puck into the front of the net and so little possession. He had two shots in Game 5. Two. I can’t remember either one, so my guess is they weren’t scoring chances. He simply has to be better.

– As for the penalty kill. Why do the Rangers forwards never seem to know when a guy is wide open in the slot?

– I feel bad for Henrik Lundqvist. What a performance that was. Again, no offense. How many games in the playoffs is he going to lose when he only gives up one goal in regulation? You think it’s frustrating for us? What about him?

– And since we talked about luck at the top, that Ryane Clowe injury came at a bad time, didn’t it? He played just two minutes in the game before leaving with an unknown injury. He brings toughness, puck possession, offense and a willingness to go into the tough areas of the ice. The Rangers lacked those things all game.

Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi did another masterful job at keeping Alexander Ovechkin off the scoresheet. Not like it mattered.

Anton Stralman looked really good. Moore looked good. Girardi and McDonagh were fantastic. Michael Del Zotto was OK through stretches and then really bad during other portions of the game. The penalty he took was simply inexcusable, and it almost turned the game. He’s had a really tough postseason. Steve Eminger wasn’t noticeable, which is a good thing. But boy oh boy does this team miss Marc Staal.

Derick Brassard was good again. An assist on Brian Boyle’s opening-minute goal. Boyle was good, too. So was Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Callahan. Then again, how good can you be without scoring?

– Another game where Carl Hagelin had a breakaway with a chance to put the Rangers up 2-0, and he didn’t. The Rangers lost both of those games (Game 1 and Game 5). Not that he was bad, I thought he was one of the better Rangers on the ice, but he needs to finish those chances.

– All series the Rangers have had serious issues with clearing the puck from their own zone. Why? Because players make lazy chips behind the net, throw blind passes around the boards and aren’t hustling enough to win board battles. You’d think they would have talked about this in the locker room. These aren’t new problems.

– I still think the Rangers can pull this off. It’s not like the Capitals are dominating games. But that doesn’t matter if you’re not winning the games. The Rangers are not winning important games, at least not in Washington. Which is an issue, since they have to go into Washington if they want to make it to the second round.

– And again, as frustrating as this loss is, the Rangers still have a chance to force a Game 7. That won’t matter if the Rangers continue their inability to score in Washington, however. But the Rangers have played much better in Madison Square Garden. I’m assuming Chris Kreider will come in for Clowe and maybe the Rangers will try something new on the power play.

Thoughts?

Talking Points