WASHINGTON, D.C. -- It was the kind of game that the Capitals had to be dreading coming into the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the New York Rangers. The offensive-minded Caps dominated the play and threw shots on net in bunches but couldn't find a way to get one past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist and ended up losing, 1-0.

 

Now the Caps face an uphill climb, as they find themselves down 2-0 in the series with the next two games in New York.

Unlike Game One on Wednesday night in which Washington's defensive and goaltending lapses cost them a winnable game, Saturday afternoon's Game Two was a defensive and goaltending clinic put on by both teams.

The game's only goal came off a turnover in the offensive zone by Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin that led to a fast rush the other way and the only shot that beat Caps rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov. The 20-year-old Russian made just his sixth NHL start, a surprise move by Caps Head Coach Bruce Boudreau after regular starter Jose Theodore was shaky in allowing four goals on Wednesday.

For the Rangers, Lundqvist made 35 saves and his teammates in front of him were good for another 29 blocked shots, stymieing Washington's potent offense in the shutout effort.

"We had a ton of chances, they blocked a ton of shots, and Lundqvist is a pretty good goalie, too," Caps defenseman Brian Pothier said in the locker room. "We need to figure out some kind of recipe to get some goals."

"He played great," Ovechkin said of Lundqvist. "In the playoffs, when the goalie feels the game and he play great, it's tough to score and they get more chances to win."

"Obviously we couldn't get anything by him, and the ones that got by him hit the crossbar," Boudreau said. "Their defense is doing a hell of a job blocking us out. We talk about getting to the net and going for rebounds. It's not like we're sitting there saying we're going to take the shots on the side."

Varlamov, who reaches the States' legal drinking age on April 27, was more than good enough in net for the Caps, stopping 23 of 24 Rangers shots in his first taste of NHL playoff hockey.

"Of course I want to play. It was my dream since childhood. It's not a secret," Varlamov said after the game. "Anyone who is on this team wants to play."

He also said that Theodore had some encouraging words for him after warm-ups before the game. "He walk over to me and say, 'Don't worry about it. I was 20-years-old when I play my first game.'"

"I thought he played well," Boudreau said of Varlamov. "I didn't think there was anything that could be done on the first goal. He made a really good save about three minutes after that. I was very happy with his game."

Varlamov was 4-0-1 with a .918 save percentage and 2.37 goals against average in six appearances for the Caps in the regular season. He also posted a .916 save percentage and 2.40 goals against average in 27 games with Washington's AHL affiliate in Hershey.

The Rangers' lone goal, scored less than eight minutes into the game, was much like how they took advantage of Washington's defense in Game One: a counter-attack that caught the Caps flat-footed.

After Caps defenseman Mike Green rushed up with Ovechkin on a break into the Rangers zone, Ovechkin turned the puck over on a bad pass and New York came back the other way on a 2-on-1. Rangers left wing Marcus Naslund skated the puck into the Caps zone and passed across to right wing Ryan Callahan, who quickly snapped a top-shelf shot into the net before Varlamov could get across.

It was Callahan's first goal of the playoffs and Naslund's second assist. Game One hero Brandon Dubinsky also assisted on the goal for his first helper of the series.

The Caps controlled much of the play prior to the goal, out-shooting the Rangers 6-1 before the Rangers scored on their second shot to get al the offense they would need for the victory.

Neither team scored in the second period, and the Rangers out-shot the Caps 10-6 in the middle frame thanks in part to almost six minutes of power play time.

After scoring two power play goals on seven opportunities in Game One, the Capitals didn't have their first man advantage until over 36 minutes into Saturday's game. The Caps only got three power plays in the game and failed to convert on any of them.

The Caps may have had their best opportunity of the game with 6:01 left in regulation when a Rangers turnover to Nicklas Backstrom left Ovechkin open all alone between the faceoff circles. Backstrom hit Ovechkin with a pass, and Ovechkin reached back a little too far to get some extra power behind the shot and fired a hard, high wrister that went off the crossbar and over the glass.

Backstrom had another great chance with less than four minutes left to play when he went into the zone alone and had a good angle against his defender. He fired a hard wrist shot on Lundqvist, but the Rangers goalie had it read and made the save with his blocker pad to keep the shutout intact.

"It's obviously frustrating, you know, getting quality chances to score and their goalie's coming up big," Green said. "I feel like we're playing well. I mean, it doesn't seem like they're dominating in our zone or anything."

On the team's confidence level, Green said it's "the same as it was before." He added, "We can't get down. We still have to stay up. If we get down it's going to make it tough on ourselves, even more."

Ovechkin echoed the sentiment, reminding reporters that the Caps were down by two games in the first round of the playoffs last year and came back to force a seventh game against Philadelphia, eventually losing the series in overtime.

The Caps now head to New York for Games Three and Four of the series. Game Three will be Monday night at Madison Square Garden, and the importance for the Capitals is obvious: win and they're right back in it, lose and it's all but over.

NOTES:
The Capitals fell to 8-8 at home in Game Twos of playoff series. It was the first time they'd ever lost a Game Two at home when trailing 1-0 in a series.

The Caps won 70 percent of the faceoffs on Wednesday, much to the chagrin of Rangers coach John Tortorella, who questioned the legality of Washington's faceoff tactics. The Caps still had an edge at the faceoff dot on Saturday, but won a much less overwhelming 53 percent.

Caps defenseman Jeff Schultz, who was abused by Dubinsky for the game-winning goal in Game One, suffered an undisclosed injury in that game and was replaced by Pothier for Game Two.