NEW YORK — New York’s Brad Richards scored the unlikeliest of power-play goals with just 7.6 seconds left in regulation, and Marc Staal added another in overtime to lift the Rangers to a stunning 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals Monday, taking the lead after five games of their NHL Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Just seconds away from a 3-2 series hole — and facing the prospect of having to win two straight to advance — the Rangers somehow cured their ailing power play and rode it to one of the most thrilling wins in team history.
Staal made sure that Richards’ tying goal wouldn’t go to waste when he scored 1:35 into overtime.
The Rangers overcame a 3-2 series deficit in the first round against Ottawa, just the second time in 18 tries they have pulled off the feat, and were looking at having to do it all over again. Now one win in the next two games will put New York in the conference finals for the first time since 1997.
Coyotes 2, Predators 1: In Glendale, Arizona, Mike Smith stopped 32 shots to help Phoenix beat Nashville to clinch a 4-1 series victory and its first-ever berth in the Western Conference finals.
The Coyotes learned earlier in the day that a tentative deal with a new owner had been reached.
They followed up with another tight victory, withstanding a late goal by Nashville’s Colin Wilson to reach the conference finals for the first time in 33 years as an NHL franchise.
Derek Morris and Martin Hanzal each scored for the Coyotes, whose opponent in the West finals will be the Los Angeles Kings, the first No. 8 seed to knock off Nos. 1 and 2 in the same postseason.
Aside from advancing to their first conference finals, the Phoenix Coyotes had another good news Monday — they have a buyer for the club.
Prior to the game, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced that a group led by former San Jose Sharks chief executive Greg Jamison has a tentative deal with the league to purchase the club. — Agencies