New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - The
New York Rangers try to put the brakes on a three-game winless skid tonight when they welcome the Washington Capitals, losers of two straight, to Madison Square Garden.
Since defeating Toronto last Tuesday, the Blueshirts have skated to consecutive ties with Buffalo and Nashville, and suffered a 4-2 loss to unbeaten Tampa Bay. In Monday night's defeat to the Lightning, Rem Murray and Mark Messier scored early in the second period to put New York ahead 2-1, but the visiting Bolts took advantage of the Rangers' lack of discipline with a pair of power-play goals later in the frame.
A roughing call on Eric Lindros and holding-the-stick infraction by Bobby Holik led to scores from Martin St. Louis and Vaclav Prospal, including Prospal's marker, the eventual game-winner, with 5:04 remaining in the second.
Sophomore goaltender Dan Blackburn made 18 saves in two periods before yielding to regular starter Mike Richter in the third. Richter, who is two wins shy of becoming the 19th backstop in NHL history to reach 300, halted seven-of-eight shots in a period of work.
New York's penalty killing sits toward the bottom of the league -- 25th to be exact -- at 78.7 percent (37-of-47).
The Rangers play the third installment of a four-game MSG set tonight. Los Angeles pays a visit on Friday.
Washington, meanwhile, continues an eight-game road trip tonight, and hopes to bounce back from consecutive losses to Philadelphia and Dallas. On Sunday the Caps, playing on back-to-back days, dropped a 5-2 decision to the Stars, who put three goals on the board in the first and two more in the second.
Jeff Halpern and Jaromir Jagr each scored for Washington and were able to draw the Caps within a goal, but both times the Stars pulled away courtesy of a Rob DiMaio tally.
Jagr's goal was his team-leading fourth of the season, and gave him seven points in all. The five-time Art Ross Trophy winner enters tonight's match with 25 goals and 47 assists in 52 career games against the Rangers. Teammate Peter Bondra, meanwhile, has registered more points against the Rangers than against any other team in the NHL, tallying 36 goals and 19 assists in 56 lifetime tilts.
The Capitals continue their lengthy trek on Friday in Tampa, before wrapping things up with matches against Florida and Pittsburgh.
Washington went 3-1 against New York last season and has won four of the last six meetings overall. The Caps have, however, lost in three of their last four trips to the Garden.
