The Washington Capitals can’t even win for losing.
Yesterday’s 3-2 overtime defeat by the New York Rangers in the home finale at MCI Center was still worth a point to the Caps, meaning they can’t finish last overall and earn the best chance at landing heralded Russian forward Alexander Ovechkin with the top pick in the June26 NHL Draft.
The Caps, thanks to a 1-0-1-1 spurt, have 59 points, three more than the Penguins heading into today’s season finale in Pittsburgh. The last-place finisher has a 48.2 percent chance of being awarded the first choice in Tuesday’s lottery of the 14 nonplayoff teams. The second-worst team has an 18.8 percent chance with third-worst at 14.2 percent and fourth-worst at 10.7 percent.
Chicago (59) is in the mix for the second or third pick. The Blackhawks wind up today in Dallas.
“The season has been bad enough — you don’t want to finish last,” Caps goalie Olie Kolzig said. “[But] I don’t know if management is that happy about it.”
Kolzig foiled Jan Hlavac on a breakaway in the final minute of regulation, but Hlavac generated another 43 seconds into overtime, causing Brendan Witt to commit an obstruction hooking penalty. Bobby Holik needed 25 seconds of the power play to redirect Thomas Puck’s pass past Kolzig.
“I don’t think I held [Hlavac] up that much; he kind of embellished it, but I didn’t want to give him a clear-cut breakaway,” Witt said.
Despite the team’s worst season (23-45-10-3) and worst home record (13-20-6-2) in 26 years, center Jeff Halpern — a Potomac native and lifelong Caps fan — scored both goals yesterday, giving him four in the last three games and 19 overall. Halpern also set a career high with 43 points, 20 in the past 19 games.
“Halpy is the only player I have to encourage [to play more offensively],” Caps coach Glen Hanlon said. “His first and foremost thought is to prevent a goal. But now [in the wake of the cost-cutting trades that sent Washington’s stars packing] he’s counted upon to create offense, and he has responded.”
The Caps and Rangers, each playing a man short because of injuries, scored one second after power plays expired in the first period.
With New York’s Boris Mironov in the penalty box for tripping at 5:53, Bates Battaglia played the puck off the boards to Kip Miller at the half-wall. Miller threw the puck towards the crease, from where Halpern had position on Chris McAllister and stuffed it under goalie Jamie McLennan at 7:54.
Caps rookie right wing Garret Stroshein, playing his second NHL game, went off for unsportsmanlike conduct at 12:47. The Rangers — who will miss the playoffs for an NHL-high seventh straight spring despite the league’s highest payroll other than the President’s Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings — didn’t generate much of a threat until Josh Green picked off Todd Rohloff’s weak clearing attempt and fed center Mike Green. The rookie put the puck between Kolzig’s legs for his first career goal at 14:48.
The Caps skated off Stephen Peat’s high-sticking minor at 19:23, but when he repeated his infraction at 2:52 of the second period not long after Kolzig had stoned Garth Murray at the right post, the penalty-killers faltered. With eight seconds left in the shorthanded situation, Holik blasted the puck past Kolzig from the left circle at 4:44.
However, Halpern evened matters again at 6:31. Matt Pettinger passed out from behind the New York net to an onrushing Halpern, who snapped a shot over McLennan’s glove before Pettinger knocked the net off its moorings.
Craig Johnson put the puck in the net on the rebound of Miller’s shot during Washington’s second power play at 9:57 but was correctly ruled to have used a high stick in doing so, negating the goal. Halpern also got it done on the defensive end, checking Sandy McCarthy to the ice with the hulking right wing lurking in front of Kolzig at 14:45.
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