Rangers 1, Capitals 0: Henrik Lundqvist stopped 27 shots for his seventh career playoff shutout and Derick Brassard scored midway through the second period to help host New York force Game 7 in its Eastern Conference first-round series.

Brassard fired a shot from the high slot through traffic for his team-leading seventh point as the sixth-seeded Rangers continued the trend of the home team winning every game in the series. Lundqvist stopped eight shots in the first period, seven in the second and 12 in the third.

Washington captain Alex Ovechkin drove into the slot less than a minute after Brassard’s tally and fired a wrist shot that Lundqvist turned aside to preserve the lead. Braden Holtby finished with 28 saves for the third-seeded Capitals, who host Game 7 on Monday.

Holtby was pulled with less than 90 seconds remaining, but Southeast Division champion Washington was unable to beat Lundqvist, who recorded three shutouts during New York’s run to the conference finals last season. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner turned aside numerous chances by Ovechkin, Eric Fehr and defenseman Mike Green in the final minutes.

Washington ran into penalty trouble in the first period and again in the third, when Green was called for cross-checking late in the contest after bloodying the mouth of New York's Derek Dorsett. The Rangers finished 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

GAME NOTEBOOK: This is the third time in five seasons a playoff series between New York and Washington has needed a seventh game. The Rangers lost 2-1 at Washington on April 28, 2009 but earned a 2-1 home victory on May 12, 2012. … Bad blood between the teams boiled over at the end of the contest, resulting in four roughing minors and setting the stage for a heated Game 7. … Lundqvist has two playoff shutouts in his career against the Capitals. His previous blanking came April 18, 2009.