The held on to beat the Washington , 2-1, in Game 7 on Saturday night and advanced to their first Eastern Conference Final since 1997. was once again great when he needed to be, but the most impre sive part of their performance (for me, anyway) was the way they completetly shut down the Capitals comeback attempt in the third period.When teams are losing -- Jonas Valanciunas Jersey especially as the game gets into the third period -- they tend to direct more shots at the net than their opponents. We know this is true because the numbers show it, and it's true acro s the entire league for pretty much every team.There's also a lot of common sense involved in it.The team with the lead is going to sit back and not push the i sue as much as it Avery Bradley Jersey tries to protect its lead. The team that's losing is going to be in desperation mode trying to take as many shots as it can from every po sible angle. If we look at Fenwick percentages from the regular season John Konchar Jersey (the measure of shots on goal and shots that mi s the net for and against) we see that 29 of the 30 NHL teams directed more shots at their opponents net during 5-on-5 play. It should be that trailing team is going to get more shots. This did not happen on Saturday night at the Garden. First, just look at the shots that actually hit the net, and where they came from via our .Pretty one-sided in favor of the Rangers, the team that was nursing the one-goal lead for most of the period. Even worse for Washington was the fact that only four of the 14 shots that were attempted during the period at even strength came from a Capitals player. Dillon Brooks Jersey That's not a good way to overcome a late game deficit. And things didn't get much better when Washington had a power play with a chance to tie the game. Not only did the Capitals not generate a shot on the man advantage, they gave up the best scoring chance and, honestly, it probably should have been a goal had Grayson Allen Jersey it not been for the "intent to blow rule" taking a shorthanded tally away from the Rangers.It was an awesome performance by the Rangers when it mattered most. Not so much for the Capitals, the team that should have been desperate and doing whatever it could to push the play. .