Rangers turn 'Oh, no' to 'Yes!'

Chris Drury called it the "oh, no" moment. That moment after an opponent scores to tie it up late, that moment after an official review goes against you, even that moment after the final period begins with the whole season on the line.

The Rangers had all of those "oh, no" moments Sunday at the Garden. From the Caps tying it up in the final minute of the second to the official review negating a last-second goal at the end of that period to another Caps goal to tie it late, the Rangers had any number of chances to allow their shoulders to sag.

They already were down 2-0 in this series, and the Caps' goals to tie at 1-1 and 2-2 could have felt like scores to put the Rangers behind. A big opportunity to let out an "oh, no" and shrink from the moment.

Instead, the moment passed, quickly. And on a four-on-four situation that even made John Tortorella mutter an "oh, no" under his breath, given the Caps' tremendous advantage in game-breaking talent, Brandon Dubinsky scored the ugliest of goals with 1:39 to go.

And yes, this is a series now.

"Those moments have really shrunk down to almost nothing for us," Drury said. "They've forged that identity all season long, whether it's coming back from a bad loss or a bad period or just a bad bounce. No one's moping after a little setback."

Even the most fatalistic Rangers fan would have to admit that the first two games of this series featured a lot of good, little things by the Blueshirts. They were engaged in fierce, physical, defensive battles, playing the way they had when they managed to squeeze into the playoffs in the first place.

Not much needed to change, except some dirty work around Caps goaltender Michal Neuvirth. And the resilience that has started to become as much a hallmark as their grind-it-out style.

"It's really just staying positive," said Brandon Prust, who took it upon himself to bump and bother Neuvirth as much as possible without drawing the officials' attention, even when the teams were on a break in the second period as injured referee Chris Rooney was replaced.

"We have to stick with the game plan no matter what the situation," Prust said. "There are going to be momentum swings, especially now in the playoffs. We can't let them affect us."

So the Rangers followed Alex Ovechkin's goal with 59.2 seconds left in the second by controlling the final minute, nearly getting a banked-in goal off Marian Gaborik's foot as time expired. The NHL's Situation Room waved it off, though, and the Garden deflated a bit. But that didn't happen inside the home dressing room.

"Period's over, it's forgotten about, because we've got 20 minutes to try and win this," said Brian Boyle, who had as good a game as a forward can have without scoring, pumping nine shots on goal. Drury played only 7:58 but won 15 of 19 faceoffs. Dubinsky, in addition to the goal, threw out seven hits in his return to the center position.

Down the middle, the Rangers were better than they'd been in Washington. And the two third-period goals came against Ovechkin's line. He was good on the power play but fairly invisible at even strength, with close-up views of both Rangers goals in the third. He even nudged Dubinsky's winner over the line.

Now it may be the Caps saying "oh, no" after a missed chance to go up 3-0. Their unpleasant playoff history includes this crazy stat: They are 1-5 when leading a playoff series 2-0.

But there will be more of those moments for the Rangers in this series. On Sunday, they showed how they respond.

Oh, yes. It's a series.

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