Rangers advance in OT on Stepan goal, 2-1 over Caps

NEW YORK -- Derek Stepan scored 11:24 in overtime, lifting the New York Rangers past the Washington Capitals 2-1 and into the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday night.

Stepan's wrist shot from the left wing after he won a faceoff - a rarity for the Rangers - capped a comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the series. The Rangers are the only team to manage that in successive years, doing the same thing to Pittsburgh in the second round in 2014.

Alex Ovechkin scored in the first period for Washington, which has lost five Game 7s in as many tries when leading a series 3-1. Kevin Hayes tied it in the second.

New York, which had the NHL's best record this season, will face Tampa Bay for a spot in the Stanley Cup finals, where the Rangers lost to Los Angeles last spring. The series begins Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Although the Rangers were badly outplayed early in overtime, Henrik Lundqvist stood tall in goal and the Capitals couldn't find that winning touch. That's something the Rangers seem to own in a seventh game: New York has won six in a row, including the last three series against Washington.

It was the Rangers' fourth overtime win in as many tries this year, all by 2-1 scores. It was a cruel finish for Braden Holtby, who was superb all series and made 37 saves Wednesday night.

Washington was quicker to the puck than the generally faster Rangers in the first period, when Lundqvist was much busier than Holtby, making 14 saves. The difference through 20 minutes: Washington's top goal scorer connected on his best chance, New York's didn't.

Ovechkin, who scored 53 times to lead the league, somehow got wide open in the slot after the Capitals won a faceoff and worked the puck off the boards. His wrist shot beat Lundqvist to the glove side.

Late in the period, while killing a penalty, the Rangers' Rick Nash, who trailed Ovechkin by 11 goals during the season, got free on a breakaway. He tried to deke Holtby and go through the legs, but his backhander was stopped as the fans lamented a missed opportunity.

The Rangers' sometimes-anemic, sometimes-opportunistic power play tied it in the second period. Tireless defenseman Ryan McDonagh kept in a clearing attempt at the right point and passed to J.T. Miller. His cross-ice feed to a cutting Hayes was perfect and Hayes put it past Holtby.

That sparked the Rangers for a while, but by the end of the period, the Capitals were buzzing the net. No one could score, and into the third period they went.

And then into overtime after a spotty, nervous session in which the best opportunities came very late. Lundqvist made a pad save off Ovechkin's wrist short following a Washington faceoff win, and Holtby stopped Dominic Moore's backhander in the final minute.

NOTES: New York lost D Dan Boyle in the second period after he was hit in the head by Brooks Orpik's elbow. ... Hayes is the first Rangers rookie to score in a Game 7 since Muzz Patrick in 1939. ... It was the fourth OT game for both New York and Washington in these playoffs. ... The Rangers extended an NHL record with their 14th straight one-goal game, dating to last year's Stanley Cup finals loss to Los Angeles. ... The Capitals had eight shots in overtime for 36 overall and did not score a power-play goal in the final five games.