Rangers even series with Capitals

THE KEY MOMENT of the New York Rangers' Game 4 win over the visiting Washington Capitals might have occurred off ice between the second and third periods.

New York had squandered a two-goal lead and the momentum in the second. But a fortuitous power play after the buzzer set up the Rangers to grab it all back.

And they did.

Dan Girardi made the most of Jason Chimera's interference penalty, scoring the go-ahead goal 59 seconds into the third. That led to New York's 4-3 victory last night that tied the best-of-seven series, 2-2.

"We've done better as the series has gone on," Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "The game was a series of momentum swings for both teams. The thing I like about our team the past couple of games is that we certainly have bent at times but didn't break."

Derek Stepan also scored in the third for the Rangers, who built their second two-goal lead before holding on for their second straight 4-3 win.

Girardi ripped a shot from above the left circle off a feed from Derick Brassard to give the Rangers the lead again.

"We had some lapses," Capitals forward Joel Ward said. "They scored a power-play goal, and that was tough for us. Plus it is never easy to be down two goals as we were."

Tortorella said the team's struggling power play was discussed during intermission, and the talk paid off.

"It was a really good power play," Girardi said. "Brass made a heck of a play to get it to the middle of the ice. I knew I was going to shoot far side. It just happened to go in."

Stepan made it 4-2 at 6:02, scoring into a wide-open net at the end of a give-and-go play in front with Carl Hagelin, who had a goal and two assists.

Game 5 will be back in Washington on Friday before the series returns to Madison Square Garden on Sunday. The home team has won all four games in the first-round Eastern Conference matchup.

"We're a confident group in here," Hagelin said. "We do know we can't play in Washington like the last game there. We've got to come in and play better."

Brad Richards and Hagelin staked the Rangers to a 2-0 lead, but goals by Mathieu Perreault and Troy Brouwer tied it for Washington. The Capitals closed within 4-3 when defenseman Karl Alzner's shot caromed in off of Perreault for his second of the game at 7:31 of the third.

Henrik Lundqvist, announced as a Vezina Trophy finalist earlier Wednesday, made 27 saves. Braden Holtby stopped 30 shots for Washington.

New York has won only one series in which it trailed 0-2.

"So far we're just taking care of business at home," Lundqvist said. "Coming back home being down two games, we had a lot of pressure, but we stepped up. So far we just tied the series. We still need to do whatever we can to get the next one."

The Rangers scored four goals in each of their two home playoff wins after scoring a total of one in two road losses.

"We knew it was going to be a tough series," Holtby said. "They played really well these last two games and there is some stuff we need to work on. It's a three-game series now. We still have home-ice advantage."

At Toronto, David Krejci scored his third goal of the night at 13:06 of overtime, giving the Boston Bruins a 4-3 win over the Maple Leafs and a 3-1 lead in their series. Krejci beat James Reimer with a shot from the faceoff circle after coming down the left wing.

Boston has not lost a playoff game in Toronto since 1959. And Toronto is 2-12-1 in its last 15 games in Boston, which will host Game 5 tomorrow.

Pittsburgh is turning to backup goaltender Tomas Vokoun. Coach Dan Bylsma said Vokoun will be in net for Game 5 tonight when the Penguins resume their first-round playoff series with the New York Islanders. The series is tied, 2-2, after the Islanders rallied for a 6-4 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday. Pittsburgh starter Marc-Andre Fleury made just 18 saves in the loss.

* Montreal forward Brian Gionta will have surgery on his torn left biceps, knocking him out of the rest of the playoffs. The Canadiens trail the Senators in their series, 3-1, with Game 5 tonight at Montreal.