If there was a critical juncture in this game against Washington that the Rangers had pretty much owned from the second minute, it was now.
Alex Ovechkin had scored on a five-on-three power play at 0:59 of the second period to bring the Caps within 3-1 with 1:31 still to go on a five-on-four man advantage.
It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that the Blueshirts had increased the 1-0 edge they’d gained on Rick Nash’s dash to the net just 1:10 into the first to 3-0 late in the opening period when Nash’s five-on-three score was followed by Derek Stepan’s goal just 2 seconds after New York’s five-on-four advantage had expired.
“The objective is to kill the rest of it off,” Ryan Callahan said. “You’re not going out on the PK looking for a goal, but you always look for an opportunity.
“I think with the guys we have killing and the speed we have, if the opportunity presents itself, we are going to go for it.”
Callahan got the opportunity when relief goaltender Braden Holtby couldn’t hold onto Dominic Moore’s left wing drive, and he went for it. The captain beat Dimitry Orlov to the front and swept the rebound into the net just before crashing into the crossbar at 2:25 to put the sealant on the Rangers’ 4-1 victory at the Garden.
The sixth win in the last seven games pushed the Blueshirts into second place by two points over the Flyers, who have two games in hand. The Rangers have a five-point playoff cushion over Columbus, though the Jackets hold three games in hand.
“These are kind of moving weeks,” said Nash, who has moved into the club lead with 14 goals, including seven in the last eight games. “This is where you have to start climbing in the standings.”
Henrik Lundqvist was sharp yet again in going to 7-2-1 over his last 10 starts, during which time he has recorded a 1.98 GAA and .934 save percentage. The Rangers have surrendered a total of nine goals over their last seven games — two or fewer in each.
Through this Broadway run, the club’s marquee players are performing up to their billing.
“I think there’s an expectation from Rick, himself, and that group that he has to find a way to contribute and get on the score sheet just like there is an expectation from our group that Hank is going to stop the puck and give us a chance to win,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “Those players are elite players and difference makers.
“They need to find a way to make a difference in a positive way and that’s what those guys are doing for us right now.”
The same holds true for Callahan, who has persevered through an injury-delayed and twice interrupted season. The captain entered the match with one goal in the nine matches he’d played since returning Jan. 3 from a nine-game absence because of a knee injury. He had one goal in his last 13 games and two in his last 22 overall.
“I don’t think I need to validate myself by any means, but I always put pressure on myself to score goals, there’s no question about that,” the captain told The Post when asked if scoring does in a sense validate his contributions.
“I haven’t been on the power play for the last while [since returning], so I have to put things in perspective because it’s very difficult to score five-on-five. Still, I need to score goals,” said Callahan, who has nine in 34 games.
Ovechkin’s goal was his first in Washington’s last 10 games against the Rangers, including the final six games of last year’s first round of the playoffs. Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 35 goals, played only 38 seconds over the final 14:38 of the second period. The Caps did take three minors within a span of 8:28 beginning at the 10:21 mark, but still, Ovechkin finished the period Washington’s ninth among forwards, with 9:32.
That, of course, wasn’t the Rangers’ problem. These days, they don’t appear to have many problems at all.