Joel Ward flipped home the game winning goal with under two seconds remaining as the Washington Capitals swiped Game 1 from the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden Thursday in the opener of their Eastern Conference Semi-Finals matchup.

The stunning ending was setup by a loose puck in the Rangers' end that was beautifully centered and struck over the left shoulder of Henrik Lundqvist. The pass came off the stick of Alex Ovechkin, who also went top-shelf on Lundqvist in the first period.

This came just four and a half minutes after the Rangers tied the game with a tipped Kevin Hayes shot from just inside the blue line that deflected by Jasper Fast.

Washington's Braden Holtby stopped 31 of 32 shots on goal. Lundqvist saved 27.

When New York hosts Game 2 on Saturday afternoon at 12:30, they'll again be without winger Mats Zuccarello. He suffered a concussion after being hit in the head with a puck in the team's opening round series and has been ruled for the entire second round, and possibly beyond.

More From 96.1 The Eagle