Rangers Top Caps In OT

The New York Rangers scored on their first and last shots.

New York's Petr Nedved tied the game with 19 seconds left in regulation, and Tim Taylor scored 1:04 into overtime to give the Rangers a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over the Washington Capitals.

New York's offense had done little recently, scoring only 13 goals as the Rangers went 1-6-2 in their last nine games. But Nedved scored on the Rangers' first shot of the game and Taylor scored late.

"You just hope for the best," Taylor said. "It's coming across, and you hope you have the right angle on your stick to put it back towards the net."

Despite Nedved's early goal, the Rangers trailed throughout the game. Washington took leads of 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3, but New York kept coming back.

"This could be the turning point as far as our season," Nedved said. "When they scored the fourth goal, we stayed positive on the bench even though it was really hard."

Nedved and Michael York both scored two goals apiece for the Rangers, who also got 30 saves in a strong effort from goalie Mike Richter.

Adam Oates had a goal and an assist for Washington, scoring his first goal since the Capitals' 66th game of last season. Calle Johansson also got a goal and an assist. The assist was his 300th aa Capital, and Scott Stevens is the only other Washington defenseman to reach that total.

Despite the win, the Rangers came up empty on all four power plays. They have gone scoreless on all 35 extra-man chances in road games and scored on only four of 76 power plays this year.

Ken Klee gave Washington a 1-0 lead 2:33 into the game by beating Richter with a slap shot from just inside the blue line.

Nedved tied the score four minutes later 30 after taking a nice feed from Jan Hlavac and firing a shot past Olaf Kolzig from between the circles.

Washington then was awarded a penalty shot after a Ranger fell on the puck in the crease with 56 seconds left in the period. However, Richter stopped Richard Zednik's low shot.

Oates gave Washington a 2-1 lead with his first goal of the season 4:50 into the second period. Joe Sacco gave the Capitals a 3-1 lead when he knocked in the rebound of Johansson's shot at 12:59 of the period.

"We should have blown them right out of the building," Wilson said. "We got greedy and it blew up in our face."

New York cut the lead to 3-2 one minute later when York broke in alone on Kolzig, who got a glove on the shot, but it trickled over the line. York then tied it with 1:10 left in the period by poking a perfect crossing pass from Theo Fleury past Kolzig.

The Capitals outshot New York 34-23.

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