Capitals beat Rangers 2-1 to advance to conference semis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Washington Capitals defeated the New York Rangers 2-1 Tuesday to win their Eastern Conference playoff series four games to three.

Sergei Fedorov scored the game-winner with 4:59 left in the third period with a wrist shot from the right-wing circle that beat Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist high to the glove side.

The Capitals, who outshot the Rangers 24-15, will play either New Jersey or Pittsburgh in the conference semi-finals.

Rangers' right wing Nik Antropov gave the New York side a 1-0 lead six minutes into the game with a 10-foot wrist shot that beat Washington's rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov.

Alexander Semin equalized with four minutes left in the period when his shot from the left-wing circle was inadvertently re-directed into the net by Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi.

(Writing by Steve Ginsburg; Editing by Greg Stutchbury; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)