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Apr 5, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing Will Cuylle (50) fights with Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
With momentum firmly on their side, the Washington Capitals entered Madison Square Garden fully entrenched in a playoff hunt that appeared dead in the water just a week ago. From blowing out the Buffalo Sabres the night before to getting friendly outcomes in games featuring the teams they\u2019re chasing, all that was left for the Caps to do was take care of business against the New York Rangers.<\/p>\n
They did not take care of business.<\/p>\n
Not even close.<\/p>\n
After an evenly played 1st period, the Rangers dotted Charlie Lindgren up to the tune of five goals on 15 shots, putting the Capitals in too deep of a hole to climb out of. They now have less control than they\u2019d like over whether their playoff chances will suffer the same fate.<\/p>\n
Plus: Good question.<\/p>\n
Minus: The general rule of thumb is that you don\u2019t start a goalie on back-to-back nights, even on a game as important as tonight was, so not many heads were turned at Spencer Carbery\u2019s decision to start the red hot Logan Thompson over Charlie Lindgren. Lindgren\u2019s performance tonight makes second-guessing that adherence to conventional wisdom fair. <\/p>\n
Caps Player of the Game: Connor McMichael\u2019s breakaway goal to tie things up towards the end of the first period briefly inspired hope that we\u2019d at least get a competitive game, so we\u2019ll give it to him here.<\/p>\n
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