The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals resumed their home-ice-loving goaltenders' duel of a series Sunday by exchanging 20 shots between the two during the first period of Game 6. The game is scoreless at the first intermission.
Neither team has won away from home in this series, but the Rangers need to do so in order to stave off elimination. A victory Sunday at Madison Square Garden would send the series back to D.C. for a series-deciding Game 7.
The two teams came out hitting aggressively in Game 6, trying to establish control. The scorekeepers credited Washington with outhitting the Rangers 14-11 in the period.
As one example, Capitals forward Mathieu Perreault was shaken up on this hit by Michael Del Zotto...
... but Rangers coach John Tortorella was displeased.
Why? Not because of the hit, but because the hit shook Perreault enough for the referees to stop play, concerned about a throat injury. The whistle blew while the Rangers had a probable three-on-two developing the other way. Tortorella let the refs have it, forcing them to visit the bench twice to explain their rationale.
According to the CNBC broadcast, Tortorella was told by the officials that they'd make the same judgment call if one of his players was hurt.
Perreault was helped off the ice, still holding his throat, but he has since returned to the ice.
The Rangers received a late five-on-three power play but were unable to convert, continuing the team's struggles with the man advantage. For the period, they registered five shots during three power plays, but they were unable to beat Braden Holtby with the man advantage nor on any of their 12 shots overall. They are now just two for 24 chances on the power play in this series.
At the other end, Henrik Lundqvist kept the Capitals off the board with eight saves of his own.
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