The Rangers are off to the second round on the power of a four-game series sweep.
First team in, first team moving on.
The Rangers were the one and only club, of the three that had a chance to sweep in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, to actually follow through with the broom after fighting for a 4-2 victory Sunday night to eliminate the Capitals in four games at Capital One Arena.
This was a series the Rangers were supposed to have in the bag, but boy did they pack it up quickly.
Just like every other aspect of their impressive 2023-24 season thus far, the Rangers took the situation that they were dealt and bent it to their whim in order to close out the team’s first four-game tear in the playoffs since 2007.
The game-winning goal ultimately came off the stick of Artemi Panarin, who whipped the puck past Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren 11 seconds into a Rangers power play and subsequently whipped his stick through the air in an emphatic celebration.
