The officials were surprisingly happy during the first 20 minutes of Game 1 between the Rangers and Capitals on Sunday at the Garden.
Six penalties were called in the first period, then eight in the match, a 4-1 victory for the Rangers.
However, the way this match was officiated in general made it difficult to get into the flow of the match.
“I thought there were too many penalties in the game,” said Jimmy Vesey, who helped the Rangers fend off all four of the Capitals’ power plays.
“I thought in the first half there wasn’t much going on, not a lot of five-on-five. I don’t know, I looked up at one point and the shots were like 7-4, so I thought that definitely affected at least the first half.
Both teams remained scoreless with the man advantage, with the Capitals whiffing on four chances and the Rangers failing to convert on two.
Three of the Capitals’ first four shots in the first period came on the power play, a testament to how little the Rangers gave up at five-on-five early in the game.
The first quarter was a feel-good period for both teams, which became much more difficult to achieve in all different situations.
If there was a statistic for the number of players ejected from the faceoff circle on Sunday, it would probably be an incredibly high number.
This, however, had no effect on the physicality of the match, which only increased as the match progressed.
Many players lingered on the ice after the whistle for the second intermission.
There were plenty of one-on-one conversations as Capitals agitator Tom Wilson found himself in the middle of a group of Rangers.
“Obviously they want to play physical, we want to play physical, it’s the playoffs,” Barclay Goodrow said. “That’s kind of what it’s about. Both teams are trying to do the same thing.
After stopping 20 of the 21 shots he saw, Igor Shesterkin became the sixth goalie in NHL history to allow two goals or fewer in 10 consecutive home playoff starts and the first since Martin Brodeur.
Chris Kreider played in his 108th playoff game, surpassing Marc Staal for second among Rangers skaters.
New York Post
