Capitals top Rangers and Hurricanes defeat Devils in opening round game 7s in NHL

Capitals, Hurricanes win NHL opening round game 7s

WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals needed three games to complete their comeback and advance to the NHL’s Eastern Conference semifinals. The Carolina Hurricanes needed just 80 seconds.

The Washington Capitals have become the 21st team in Stanley Cup playoffs history to win a series after falling behind three games to one, beating the New York Rangers 2-1. Sergei Fedorov beat Henrik Lundqvist with 4:59 remaining while the Capitals outshot the Rangers 13-1 in the final period.

Simeon Varlamov faced just 15 shots and was perfect after Nik Antropov scored 5:35 into the game. Alexander Semin also scored for the Capitals, who also rallied from a three-games-to-one deficit to win their 1988 first-round series against Philadelphia.

Washington now prepares for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes pulled off a comeback within a comeback to reach the Eastern Conference semifinals. New Jersey was less than two minutes away from a 3-2 victory until Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal scored 48 seconds apart to give the Canes a 4-3 win over the Devils in Game 7.

Cam Ward turned back 32 shots and kept the Devils off the scoreboard after Brian Rolston notched a power-play goal that put New Jersey ahead 3-2 midway through the second period.

The Hurricanes trailed the series three games to two before earning the right to take on top-seeded Boston in the next round.