The Rangers defeated the Capitals 2-1 on Wednesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series. Paul Mara scored at the 13:55 mark of the first period, and Chris Drury added another goal at the 2:23 mark of the second to give New York a 2-0 lead. Alex Ovechkin found the net early in the third period, but Washington didn't score again as they fell at Madison Square Garden. Henrik Lundqvist recorded 38 saves for a 97.4 save percentage, while Simeon Varlamov stopped just 19 shots for the Capitals.