It was a grind, because of course it was.
But the Rangers somehow found a way to extend their season Sunday afternoon at the Garden, sneaking by the Capitals with a 1-0 Game 6 win, pushing their first-round series to a decisive Game 7 on Monday in Washington.
With little artistry and repeated moments of toe-curling tightness, the Blueshirts again managed to get by on sheer grit and determination, staying perfect at home this postseason while now facing the task of having to break their 0-fer in the Nation’s Capitol.
“I always feel good about my team,” coach John Tortorella said before the game, the seven-word press conference on the lone question asked speaking to the fact that at this point in the season, wins and losses are the full extent of importance.
A season that continues to be on the line, a place where the Rangers have lived not just in this lockout-shortened year, but for the most of the four-and-a-half seasons Tortorella has been behind their bench. Regardless of chances, they’re still a team that scores very little, and they found a way to make a second-period goal from Derick Brassard – a deflection off the arm of Capitals’ defenseman Steve Olesky – stand up.
And that was mostly by way of Henrik Lundqvist, this sterling performance in the King’s arsenal not getting lost amid a sea of offensive ineptitude. In the third period, he made big stop after big stop, as the Caps had moments of chances when they crashed the net. Yet Lundqvist was there with each turn, putting up a wall with each puck that came his way, showing yet again why the reigning Vezina Trophy winner is up for the award again this season.
With 9:39 gone by in the second, Rick Nash went to the front of the net and almost got credit for a tip-in that never happened. The Rangers spent the final 10 minutes of the second period completely holding the momentum.
“I would think the guys are a little more relaxed,” Capitals coach Adam Oates said about his team before the game. “There’s a little more pressure on [the Rangers]. But obviously, it’s their building so that kind of neutralizes that a little bit.”
The scoreless first period was a rather even-paced, tepid affair, where neither team really held the momentum for any long stretch of time. The Rangers finished those first 20 minutes up in shots, 12-8, but that was mostly due to the fact that they spent 4:32 skating with one extra skater, and 44 seconds with two more than Capitals.
But the Rangers power play continue to sputter in the early going, getting nary a good scoring opportunity throughout all their time on the man-advantage. They came into the game having gone 2-for-21 in the first five games.
bcyrgalis@nypost.com