Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin guaranteed a victory for his team in Game 7 of their second-round Eastern Conference NHL playoff series against the New York Rangers.
Unfortunately for Ovechkin, the Broadway Blueshirts had something to say about that.
It took all of regulation and most of an overtime period, but the Rangers were able to defeat Ovechkin and the Caps 2-1 at a rocking Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. They'll now square off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals, slated to start Saturday.
Ovechkin, who hadn't potted a goal in five games, opened the scoring in Game 7, beating Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist high in the first period.
He receded to the background thereafter though, and the Caps couldn't again find the back of the net despite several extended stretches of pressure on King Henrik and the back-on-their-heels Rangers.
In the overtime period especially the Caps seemed to be getting the better of the Rangers and on the verge of closing out the game and the series, but the lack of a finishing stroke by Barry Trotz's group left the door open for a lightning-quick final tally by the Rangers Derek Stepan.
Really, the story of this game wasn't so much the advantageous Rangers as it was the missed opportunities by the Caps.
Washington was assessed three consecutive minor penalties in the second period and after handily killing the first two, seemed well on their way to dismissing the third before a quick strike goal from the Rangers sent shockwaves of energy through the crowd and turned the momentum in New York's favor.
Then, in overtime, the early consistent sustained pressure from the Capitals - something that seemed to be working in their favor at first - eventually wore on Trotz's crew, leading to the quick goal from Stepan and an unceremonious postseason exit.
