Rangers lose to Capitals in overtime, Alex Ovechkin scores No. 885

This is what a playoff race looks like. You win some games, and gain some ground; you lose some games, and lose some ground. Sometimes you play poorly and win, or you play well and lose. And sometimes you face the top team in the Eastern Conference and give them a run for their money, only have victory snatched away from you.

In their last game before Friday’s NHL trade deadline, the Rangers closed out a four-game homestand Wednesday with a thriller against the Washington Capitals. Sixty minutes weren’t enough to decide it.

A third period power play goal from Alexander Ovechkin tied it for Washington, and then Tom Wilson’s goal, with 52.3 seconds left in overtime, dealt the Rangers a 3-2 loss in Madison Square Garden Wednesday.

But the one point the Rangers (31-26-5, 67 points) earned kept them tied for the second wild card spot with Ottawa, which beat Chicago in overtime to get to 67 points. The Rangers’ next game will be against the Senators Saturday afternoon in Ottawa.

“I think we played well,’’ Mika Zibanejad said. “I think there are a lot of things that we're doing well. Obviously we got a little bit kind of push back in the third, but overall, I think we, we defended. There are a lot of good things from this game that we can take, and we'll take the point and move on.’’

“It was a tough loss,’’ Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was a big game. They're the top team in the East right now. You're up 2-1 going to the third. I liked everything we're doing in the third up until we they got on the power play… Up until that point, I thought that the third was, it was in check with where we wanted to be. And they scored a power play goal to tie it up.’’

Ovechkin’s goal, at 10:28 of the third period, was the 885th of his career, drawing him within nine of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time mark of 894.

The power play was a theme in this one, with Washington getting that one key goal in four tries, while the Rangers were 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

The Capitals were the last team to get into the playoffs last year, and were swept in the first round by the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers. But they have made a huge leap this season under second-year coach Spencer Carbery, rising all the way to the top of the Eastern Conference, with a record of 40-14-8.  Along the way, they’d beaten the Rangers twice already this season, with both games in Washington.

They got on the board first in this one, on a goal by Pierre-Luc Dubois at 1:04 of the first period. It was the 22nd time this season – and third time in seven games since the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off break – that the Rangers have allowed a goal in the first five minutes of the game.

“Do we talk about a good start? We do,’’ Laviolette said, when asked about the Rangers’ penchant for giving up goals early in games. “It was a face off. There was a bounce, and it was in the back of the net. And you’ve got to move on. I like the response that we had for the rest of the first period . . . Certainly you don't want to give up a goal in the first five minutes of the game, first two minutes of the game. But if it happens, you’ve got to move on.’’

The Rangers equalized when Artemi Panarin redirected a shot/pass from Zac Jones in for his third goal in three games, and his 26th on the season, at 13:37. Then, they had a golden opportunity to take the lead when Washington’s Ethen Frank was given a double-minor penalty for high sticking Brett Berard at 15:30.

But with four minutes of power play time, the Rangers managed just one shot on goal and did not score.

Things got testy in the second period, after Sam Carrick’s goal at 8:05 of the period gave the Rangers the lead, 2-1. At 12:54, Matt Rempe and Tom Wilson were jawing at each other in center ice when Carrick and Washington’s Brandon Duhaime dropped the gloves and started throwing punches.

Then, at 14:58, after Washington’s Matt Roy and Martin Fehervary double-teamed Brennan Othmann and dumped him, headfirst, into the back boards. At that point, new Ranger Juuso Parssinen fought Roy. And though Parssinen appeared to lose his balance and Roy got him down and landed on top of him, Parssinen’s willingness to step up for a teammate had to go a long way toward endearing himself to his new teammates.

Notes & quotes: Forward Reilly Smith missed his third straight game as the team continues to try and trade him before the NHL’s Friday deadline. Smith is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer… Chris Kreider remained on IR with an upper body injury and missed his sixth game.