The Washington Capitals can take their first series lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal against the New York Rangers on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. The Capitals are looking to build on Saturday's Game 4 victory that evened the series at two games a piece.
Goaltender Braden Holtby will get the start in net for the Capitals again, after making 18 saves in Game 4. In this series he has a goals against average of 1.94 with a save percentage of .933. He'll match up again with Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy finalist Henrik Lundqvist, who has a 1.68 GAA with a .940 save percentage.
Whats more encouraging, there has been no contact by the NHL's discipline committee to Alex Ovechkin in regards to a hit he put on Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi that set up Mike Green's game winning goal on Saturday. Ovechkin does lead the Capitals in goals this playoff year with four.
The Capitals have to keep their aggressive play on defense up to take the lead in the series. If they can continue to block Ranger shots and get traffic in front of Lundqvist on offense, Game 6 could be a potential series clincher for Washington.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates throughout the Capitals and Rangers Eastern Conference semifinal series. For more news and analysis on the Caps, visit Japers' Rink. For news and info from a Rangers perspective during the series, visit Blueshirt Banter. And for all your news on the NHL Playoffs, check out SB Nation's NHL hub.