Rangers defeat Capitals in overtime to reach Eastern Conference finals

NEW YORK - There's something special about the New York Rangers and Game 7.

They play it. They win it.

You might say it's guaranteed.

The Rangers did it again Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, knocking the Washington Capitals out of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Derek Stepan's rebound goal 11:24 into overtime. The Rangers, who lost in the Cup Finals a year ago, advance to play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference final.

Game 1 will be at 1 p.m. ET Saturday in New York.

"We just find ways to win," said defenseman Dan Girardi, whose shot deflected to Stepan to set up the winning goal. "We were down and out at three games to one. It's just a good feeling to come back from 3-1 and play a great Game 7."

They always seem to, especially at home. The Rangers have played Game 7 at Madison Square Garden seven times in their history, winning all seven. They've won six consecutive Game 7's overall, three of them against the Capitals.

The Caps were determined that this year would be different, even after the Rangers had come back to even the series at three wins apiece. After the Rangers won Game 6 on Sunday night in Washington, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin told reporters that his team was "going to come back and win the series."

Many took it as a guarantee, especially when Ovechkin didn't back away from his comments the next day.

Ovechkin did score the lone Capitals goal Wednesday night, beating Henrik Lundqvist 12:50 into the first period to give Washington a 1-0 lead. The Caps never did beat Lundqvist again — the Rangers goalie made 35 saves — and it was the Rangers who came back to win it.

Kevin Hayes tied the game at 6:22 of the second, and both Lundqvist and Capitals goalie Braden Holtby made big saves to send the game to overtime.

It was the second overtime game in a tight series where each of the seven games was decided by a single goal, with four ending 2-1 and another finishing 1-0.

"I don't think we played bad," Ovechkin said. "I don't know what to say."

What others will say is that as good a player as Ovechkin is, he still hasn't been able to take a team as far as the conference final.

The Rangers will be back there for a second consecutive season, after winning their first overtime Game 7 since Stephane Matteau famously scored to beat the New Jersey Devils in 1994, on the way to the Rangers' last Stanley Cup.

They did it with a goal that was set up on a faceoff that Stepan actually lost. The puck stayed in the circle, and Jesper Fast was able to tip it to Keith Yandle. Yandle set up Girardi.

"I got a good whack," Girardi said. "Honestly, I thought it was going in."

It didn't, but when it deflected to Stepan, the Ranger forward had plenty of net to shoot at.

"It's a special feeling," Stepan said. "But we have a lot of work still to do. It's certainly a lot of fun, but we have a lot of work to do here. You know that we are only halfway."

They're halfway through the 16 playoff wins needed to claim a Cup, and each of their eight wins so far has been by a single goal (six by a 2-1 score). Each of their four losses has also been by a single goal.

This is how they play. They're accustomed to it by now.

They're also accustomed to winning. They always believe they will, even when they fall behind in a series three games to one, even when Game 5 in that series sees them still trailing with 1:41 to play (as this one did).

"We just said win Game 5, and see what happens," Stepan said. "We were down 3-1, but we knew we had two games left at home."

They knew it, even if they never guaranteed it. They didn't need to.

The Rangers just had to get to Game 7. Once they got there, it was guaranteed.

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