Rangers’ comeback bid falls short in loss to Capitals

Somehow, in a flash, the Rangers scored four third-period goals within a span of 9:24 in Washington on Sunday afternoon against a Caps team that had surrendered a total of 20 goals over the previous 10 games while winning nine of them.

Somehow, that explosion keyed by Colin Blackwell was not enough to get the Blueshirts even a point out of David Quinn’s return behind the bench after his six-game absence while on the COVID-19 protocol list, the final score 5-4 against. Except not quite, “somehow.” Because while falling behind 3-0 at 15:07 of the second period and 4-0 at 5:10 of the third, the Rangers did as little as possible to make life sticky for the Caps, now 15-2-1 over their last 18 to ascend to a share of the lead for the NHL’s best overall record.