Schedule and 2008-09 Results
Regular Season Records: Washington 50-24-8=108pts, New York Rangers 43-30-9=95pts
Game 1 on Wednesday, 15 April: N.Y. Rangers win at Washington, 4-goals-3
Game 2 on Saturday, 18 April: N.Y. Rangers win at Washington, 1-goal-nil
Game 3 on Monday, 20 April: Washington wins at N.Y. Rangers, 4-goals-nil
Game 4 on Wednesday, 22 April: Washington loses at N.Y. Rangers, 2-goals-1
Game 5 on Friday, 24 April: N.Y. Rangers lose at Washington, 4-goals-nil
Game 6 on Sunday, 26 April: Washington wins at N.Y. Rangers, 5-goals-3
Game 7 on Tuesday, 28 April: N.Y. Rangers lose at Washington, 2-goals-1

SERIES NOTES:

Post-series assessment: Surmounting a 3-games-1 deficit for the first time in an NHL best-of-7 playoff series since the 2004 Preliminary round (when the Montreal Canadiens did so against their arch-rival Boston Bruins in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 904), the Washington Capitals defeated the New York Rangers 4-games-3 in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1057. Breaking a five-series losing streak, the Capitals thus improve their NHL best-of-7 playoff series record to 9-17 overall and 6-10 in the Preliminary round, while that for the New York Rangers falls to 24-34 overall and 8-5 in the Preliminary round. Since the 2004 comeback by Montreal, NHL teams trailing a best-of-7 series 3-games-1 had lost 29 consecutive series before the Washington comeback. In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff series from 1939 into the 2009 Preliminary round (but prior to Washington-New York Game 7), teams trailing 3-games-1 had a 20-215 (.085) series record. The win order for the victorious Washington Capitals in series 1057 was LLWLWWW: Series 1057 thus becomes the fourth NHL Preliminary round series, the fifth NHL series (all rounds), and the ninth MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow such a win order to completion.