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Goaltending Heroics Deny Rangers in 1-0 Loss to Capitals
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- Goaltending Heroics Deny Rangers in 1-0 Loss to Capitals
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
If the New York Rangers continue to play the way they did against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, they're going to come away with two points most nights this season. However, Sunday wasn't one of those nights because Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren simply was unbeatable, shutting out the Rangers 1-0.
Lindgren stopped all 35 shots he faced in his season debut, earning his 10th NHL shutout and second in five career starts against the Rangers (2-2-0), who've yet to score in two home games this season. They were also shut out on opening night by Arturs Silovs and the Pittsburgh Penguins , though the Rangers weren't nearly as good nor engaged in that one.
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"I thought the team played extremely well, and that's what I said to the guys after the game," Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said . "For our coaching staff, we're most concerned about how we play, how we win and how we lose. Sometimes, you can't control whether the puck goes in the net or not."
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The Rangers out-shot and out-chanced the Capitals (2-1-0) in each period Sunday. But Lindgren was the type of difference maker for his team that Igor Shesterkin 's been in goal for the Rangers so far this season.
However, it wasn't Shesterkin at the other end of the ice battling Lindgren Sunday, it was Jonathan Quick , who was also very good in this one. In his first 2025-26 start, Quick surrendered just one goal on 21 shots, and made some big-time saves himself, especially early in the third period to keep the deficit at one.
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It took a perfect shot to beat Quick and the Rangers, and Washington's Anthony Beauvillier did just that at 13:47 of the second period. From a difficult angle to the side of Quick, Beauvillier deflected a hard Alex Ovechkin pass from the top of the left circle up and over the surprised Rangers goalie for the game's only goal, his first of the season.
That it happened in the second period is somewhat ironic because the Rangers dominated the middle 20 minutes of this contest. They had two power plays, a 13-5 shots advantage, 14 scoring chances in all situations to four for the Capitals, and all seven high-danger chances in the period, per Natural Stat Trick.
Lindgren made, perhaps, the best save during the first week of the 2025-26 NHL season, with just under five minutes gone by in the second period. He stretched far to his right to glove a blistering one-timer by Mika Zibanejad off a perfect 2-on-1 feed by J.T. Miller .
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"I'm confident I can say I score that eight out of 10 (times), nine out of 10," Zibanejad said postgame . "He made a lot of good saves."
Four minutes later, an alert Lindgren somehow kept a pinballing puck out of his cage, following a centering pass that went off the skate of a Capitals defenseman in front. Later in the period, he stoned both Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere on Grade-A power-play opportunities off open looks. Miller nearly snuck a deflection past Lindgren on the power play, but, again, the Capitals goalie found a way to make the timely save.
It was like that all night for the Rangers. Great puck movement and possession. Plenty of scoring chances (33, including 12 of the high-danger variety). and nothing to show for it.
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Rangers fall short against terrific Charlie Lindgren in 1-0 loss to Capitals
The Rangers stayed alive right until the final buzzer. Quick exited for an extra attacker with 1:54 to play after the Capitals iced the puck. Zibanejad fired a bomb that Lindgren stopped, and Will Cuylle hammered a right-circle one-timer that the Capitals goalie swallowed up.
Tom Wilson missed scoring into the empty net for Washington at 18:16, when his backhand shot from center ice carried just wide.
Overall, it was an extremely entertaining fast-paced game right from the get-go. This despite each team playing the previous night — the Rangers blitzed the Penguins 6-1 in Pittsburgh and the Capitals skated to a 4-2 road win against the Islanders .
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Noah Laba hit the post late in the first period for the Rangers, after Quick made big-time stops on Ovechkin, Beauvillier and Wilson earlier in the period. The end-to-end action and fast pace felt more like a playoff game, than an October match-up.
The Capitals, who finished first in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference last season, looked the part of a serious contender again. But so did the Rangers, who missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four years last season.
Here are some other key takeaways from the Rangers' 1-0 loss to the Capitals
1. Winning recipe, most nights
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There's really not much to nitpick about the Rangers performance Sunday, outside of the final unfortunate result. The Rangers played a hard north-south game at a fast pace and competed in all three zones for all three periods. Each line was effective, as was the case Saturday against the Penguins. And the overall team defense was, for the most part, solid — as was the goaltending — especially against such good opposition. The Rangers, by the way, have allowed two goals in their past three games, and five goals (two empty-netters included) this season.
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"I thought from an effort standpoint, determination, our attitude — for me, this type of game is the kind of game that we're trying to build," Sullivan said. "If we continue to play with that kind of an effort and that kind of focus and attention to detail, I think we're going to win more games than we lose, that's for sure."
That sure had the look of a long-term winning recipe for the Rangers.
2. It starts in the face-off circle
The Rangers played with a ton of energy and high-compete level. They hunted down pucks and won numerous battles to gain — or maintain — possession throughout the game Sunday.
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But a big reason why they owned the puck, especially in the second period and much of the first, was their dominating performance in the face-off circle. The Rangers won 72 percent of the face-offs in the first two periods, and 65 percent (32 of 49) total. And that's with their best face-off man, Vincent Trocheck , sidelined with an upper-body injury.
Miller won 14 of 18 draws (78 percent) and Sam Carrick won six of seven (86 percent).
Consistently win face-offs — in all three zones — and you won't chase the game nearly as much. Such was the case Sunday.
3. Balanced blue line
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Playing their first back to back this season, and without the injured Carson Soucy , the Rangers evenly distributed ice time among their six defensemen. The balanced blue line featured five defensemen who logged at least 17:46 TOI, led by Adam Fox (23:22). Only Urho Vaakanainen played less than that (14:10).
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Matthew Robertson drew into the lineup to replace Soucy, playing his third NHL game and first this season after he was a healthy scratch each of the first three in 2025-26. Robertson mostly paired with Will Borgen and logged 18:08 TOI. He nearly slipped a left-point shot past Lindgren late in the third period, and also was credited with two hits.
Braden Schneider played some on his off (left) side with Borgen, though mainly remained on the right side of the third pair with Vaakanainen. Schneider also looked quite adept again at quarterbacking the second power-play unit, though the Rangers ended up failing on their two PP opportunities Sunday, despite several prime scoring chances.
Soucy landed on IR after he sustained an upper-body injury against the Penguins on Saturday.
4. Conor Sheary proving his worth
Veteran forward Conor Sheary earned a contract with the Rangers after attending training camp on a PTO. Bumped up to a top-six role with Trocheck sidelined and Zibanejad shifted to center, Sheary proved his worth against the Capitals with a strong all-around performance.
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Sheary had three shots on goal and nearly scored three times Sunday. His neat deflection in the first period was denied by Lindgren, though. Then in the second, Lindgren robbed the 33-year-old from point-blank range. And in the third period, he burst down right wing and had an open net to shoot at, but couldn't quite handle a hot cross-ice feed.
He also made one of the best saves of the night, getting his stick on a Wilson shot in the third period, when Quick was flat on his stomach, leaving the cage wide open. It was a great effort and timely play by Sheary, keeping the Rangers within a goal with 12 minutes remaining in regulation.
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