WASHINGTON — Jason Chimera and Jason Arnott scored in a 1:57 span in the second period, Michal Neuvirth made 22 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Friday night to take a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.
After playing a scoreless and somewhat jittery first period, the Capitals dominated the Rangers the rest of the way. Chimera scored 2:11 into the second period off a feed from Marcus Johansson, and Arnott added to the lead at the 4:08 mark with a power-play goal from the left circle.
The 23-year-old Neuvirth has stopped 46 of 47 shots so far in the series for the Capitals, the conference’s No. 1 seed. Henrik Lundqvist made 16 saves for the eighth-seeded Rangers.
Game 3 is Sunday in New York.