New York, NY

Henrik Lundqvist tallied his seventh career playoff shutout to help the New York Rangers force a do-or-die showdown with a 1-0 win over the Washington Capitals in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden.

"We needed it and I can't wait to go to Washington and play another Game 7," said Lundqvist, who recorded 27 saves. "There was a lot of desperation out there. We showed a lot of character and we worked really hard."

Derick Brassard scored the lone goal for the Rangers, who will play the Capitals in Game 7 Monday at Verizon Center, where Washington is 3-0 in the series and has held New York to two goals. The Rangers are 0-5 all-time in Game 7s on the road.

The Rangers did not give the Capitals any power play opportunity in the game, keeping Washington's vaunted weapon out of play in the series. The Capitals are 3-for-14 on the power play in the series.

"They kept our most dangerous weapon off the ice, our power play," Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner said. "They got the one good bounce to go in, and we didn't have an answer for it. It's very frustrating that you have to go for Game 7 but that's the way it is sometimes."

Braden Holtby tallied 28 saves for the Capitals, who are heading to their third straight Game 7 after beating the Boston Bruins and losing to the Rangers last year.

Brassard gave the Rangers the lead 9:39 into the second period, when his slap shot hit off Capitals defenseman Steve Oleksy and dipped under Holtby's glove.

Rick Nash was in front of the net and was initially given credit for the goal but replays clearly showed that Oleksy reached out his left hand and deflected the puck.

The goal was credited to Brassard in-between periods, giving him a team-leading seven points in the series.

In the third, Lundqvist made back-to-back point-blank saves on Jason Chimera and Joel Ward from the slot with just over 10 minutes left.

Washington still got off two shots on goal in the final 15 seconds, but Lundqvist preserved the shutout and forced a Game 7 with two more saves.

 

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Henrik Lundqvist Tallies Shutout as Rangers Force Game 7