After another action packed period, the Caps and Rangers go into the second intermission tied at one goal a piece. But it was quite a story as to how it got there.
The Caps started the period with the one man advantage from the waning moments of the first period, but that didn't last long. Shortly after the period started, Mike Green was called for hooking, creating a 4 on 4 chance. Once the Rangers had the full man advantage, they were unable to convert on another power play chance.
After both teams were at full strength, Henrik Lundqvist showed why he is one of the better goaltenders in the league, as he stone Marcus Johansson and Jason Arnott on back to back scoring chances.
And then five minutes into the period, the Rangers got their second power play of the period, when John Carlson got called for a cross check. You had to figure that with all the chances the Rangers were getting in the game thus far, it was only a matter of time until they would cash in. And sure enough, this was the fateful break they needed to score the game's first goal. An angling shot from Erik Christensen went in and gave the Rangers the 1-0 lead early in the period.
And a few minutes later, the Caps gave the Rangers it's third power play chance of the period, with Alex Ovechkin committing a hooking penalty. And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for the Caps PK unit, it did. Scott Hannan "committed" a holding penalty (quotes because it looked like a phantom call), giving the Rangers their second two man advantage of the game. The Caps were able to stave off the Rangers again during their brief 5 on 3 chance, and then again when it went back to the 5 on 4.
With the Caps back at full strength (a rarity in this period), they had a few odd man rushes in the last few minutes of the period. But again, Henrik Lundqvist was there to make the save every time. Add that to the fact that the penalties that were called on the Caps were soft at best, and that couldn't have made Bruce Boudreau a happy man for most of the period.
But Boudreau's best player came through for him and the Caps in the waning seconds of the period, as Ovechkin scored on a deflection that went past Lundqvist to tie the game 1-1.
And just when it looked like the Caps were going to go into the locker room with a tie game, they got yet another scare.
The Rangers appeared to score a goal with 0.1 seconds left on the clock. But after the officials reviewed the play, they determined that the clock read 0.0 when the puck crossed the goal line, with the Caps breathing a huge sigh of relief.
So while so many things went against the Caps in this period, they still go into the locker room tied with the Rangers 1-1 with a chance to win this game in the third period.