Mike Green scored a power-play goal with 5:48 left in the third period and the Washington Capitals held on to defeat the New York Rangers 3-2 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals Saturday afternoon at Verizon Center.
The win evened the series at two games apiece and ensured that the two teams would meet at Verizon Center one more time for Game 6 Wednesday night.
The Capitals took a 1-0 lead at 12:43 of the first period when Alex Ovechkin's shot from the slot deflected into the net off Henrik Lundqvist's glove.
The Rangers tied the game 1:10 into the second period when Artem Anisimov pounced on the rebound of a blocked Dan Girardi shot and flipped the puck past Braden Holtby. However, Washington regained the lead when Nicklas Backstrom ended a long shift in the Rangers zone by firing the puck past Lundqvist at 11:54 of the second.
Washington's second lead lasted less than five minutes as Anisimov beat both Jeff Schultz and Dennis Wideman down the ice to cancel out a potential icing and centered the puck for Game 3 hero Marian Gaborik to score from close range.
Braden Holtby made 18 saves in recording his sixth victory of the playoffs.
