Caps Drop Shootout to the Rangers, 2-1

The Washington Capitals continue to bank on their strong defense, penalty killing and goaltending -- a vast departure from last year's high-flying ways. But this team is more like the 1980s/1990s Caps -- an outfit that qualified for the postseason 14 straight seasons.

Tonight, against the New York Rangers, the Caps lost, 2-1, in a shootout -- after being outshot, 29-23, during the first 65 minutes. Braden Holtby had another stellar night as did the Rangers' Martin Biron. In the shootout, Matt Hendricks (using the same move he donned Saturday night in Toronto) and Nicklas Backstrom scored for the Caps, while Mats Zuccarello, Wojtek Wolski and Artem Anisimov tallied for the visitors.

Hendricks (his seventh of the season) put the Caps on the board at 1:27 of the second period with a beautiful wrister off a nice feed by Marcus Johansson. It was the culmination of a pressure-packed series by the crowd favorite.

The Rangers struck back at 13:19 of the third, when Marian Gaborik got enough of the puck in the middle of a scrum in front of Holtby for his 16th of the season. The play was reviewed, but somehow Gaborik got the puck over the goal line legally, but it was close to being punched into the net.

Overall, the game was very choppy and downright ugly. If this were last season, some might argue that the team looked disinterested. But, as part of Caps 2.0, it's just another trapping day at the office. Holtby was under pressure at times, but continues to look like he belongs. His youth was exposed during the shootout, but fortunately for the Caps, they don't have those in the postseason.