Rangers at Capitals
The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals have held serve at home over the first four games of their Eastern Conference first-round series. After dropping a pair of contests at Madison Square Garden, Washington will look to regain the advantage when the teams reconvene for Game 5 at the Verizon Center on Friday. Defenseman Dan Girardi scored on the power play 59 seconds into the third period to snap a tie and Carl Hagelin collected a goal and two assists in New York's 4-3 victory on Wednesday.
Returning to the nation's capital means Washington will gain the advantage of having the last change - meaning coach Adam Oates can shuffle superstar Alex Ovechkin on the ice for favorable matchups. The three-time Maurice Richard Trophy winner has been limited to just three shots and held off the scoresheet in the last two games. By comparison, Ovechkin registered 12 shots in the first two contests - scoring a power-play goal in Game 1 and setting up defenseman Mike Green's overtime winner in Game 2.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, RDS2, MSG (New York), CSN (Washington)
ABOUT THE RANGERS: Rick Nash came to Broadway hoping to make his mark in the postseason. Through four games, the top-line forward has a team-leading 17 shots and an assist on Derek Stepan's winning goal in Game 3 to show for his efforts. "It'll come," Nash said optimistically. Coach John Tortorella said he wasn't worried when asked about Nash. "Not at all. He's not built that way," Tortorella said. "... It hasn't gone for him, but there's no chance that will happen with him (getting down on himself). In the short time I've been with him, I just can't see that ever happening. He's too much of a pro."
ABOUT THE CAPITALS: Ovechkin, who netted a league-best 32 goals, joined Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay Lightning stud Martin St. Louis as finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award. The honor is presented to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the NHL Players' Association. Braden Holby will relish his return to Washington. The netminder stopped 59-of-60 shots in winning the first two games before yielding four goals in both contests in New York.
OVERTIME
1. Washington RW Martin Erat has been ruled out of Friday's tilt with an upper-body injury. The team recalled RWs Joey Crabb and 2012 first-round pick Tom Wilson from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Thursday.
2. After going 0-for-7 on the power play in Games 1 and 2, New York has scored with the man advantage in each of the last two contests.
3. Washington owns a less-than-stellar 10-20 mark in Game 5 of a postseason series.