Unbelievable Overtime Win!

By Rodger M. WoodDown 3-0 after two periods in the fourth game of the quarterfinal playoffs at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night, the Caps rallied for three goals in the third period sending the game into double overtime, when Caps forward Jason Chimera’s clutch goal at the 12:46 mark beat the overwhelmed Rangers 4-3.The game’s outcome was truly bleak after Rangers Brandon Dubinsky scored his second goal of the series to make the score 3-0 midway through the second period. During the regular season, New York was a formidable 29-0-0 when leading after the second period.But fate had dealt Coach Boudreau a better hand. Before the game, he replaced an injured Mike Knuble with Chimera on the Backstrom/Ovechkin line and Chimera with Eric Fehr on the Marcus Johanssen/Brooks Laich line.Marcus Johanssen scored two goals in the third period and Chimera was in Knuble’s place on the ice when he scored the winning goal.Alexander Semin started the Caps goal surge at the 2:47 mark of the third period with his second goalof the series.After the game, Chimera said his sudden death winning goal was almost as good as getting married or having a baby. It was also his second winning goal of the series.The first period was scoreless, the fourth in a row in the series in which the two teams did not score in the first period.After a miserable second period, the Caps started knocking the Rangers around again, and getting pucks and forwards Semin, Johanssen, and Chimera on net in front of Rangers goalie, Henrik Lundvquist.In the third period, Rangers young defensemen made mistakes which led to the Caps goals. Semin intercepted rookie Ryan McDonagh errant pass to score, Johanssen was by himself in front of the net for both his goals, and Chimera got behind Lundvquist and Marc Staal to score the game winner.The Caps put 53 shots on the Rangers net, had another 28 blocked and missed 22 while the Rangersput 39 shots on Neuvy, had 21 blocked and missed 12. Brooks Laich took a shot defending a second period power play, which almost disabled him.Keeping the Caps in the game, Neuvy stopped 31/34 shots in regulation, 13/13 in overtime, and 36/39 for the game, while King Lundvquist stopped 49/53 in regulation and 18/19 in overtime.Slumping along with most of the other Caps in the second period, rookie defenseman John Carlson teamed up with defense partner Karl Alzner to play brilliant defense in the third and both overtime periods. He and Jeff Schultz blocked five shots each.By the end of the third period both teams had thrown over 100 hits, the Rangers 61 and the Caps 47. Matt Bradley led the Caps with 7 hits, while 6-7 giant Brian Boyle led the Rangers with 10. Except for Johanssen, every Cap on the ice hit someone.In the first two periods, the Caps had five minor penalties, but settled down for only one minor in the third, and one for too many men on the ice in overtime.The Caps rolled four lines and 3 pairs of defensemen in the game wearing down the opposition. John Carlson played a team high of 34:50, while Rangers leader Joe Girardi played 39:45 minutes.Ahead 3 games to one, the Capitals hope to end the series in a matinee game 3:30 Saturday at the Verizon Centre.