Matt Bradley scored his first two playoff goals and rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov posted his second shutout of the opening round as the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 4-0 in Game 5 on Friday night to avoid elimination. The seventh-seeded Rangers, who benched Sean Avery, lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading to Game 6 in New York on Sunday. Alexander Semin also scored for No. 2 Washington, and the Rangers pulled goalie Henrik Lundqvist after two periods, replacing him with Steve Valiquette. Perhaps the Rangers missed Avery, their only scratch Friday. His benching came after he was called for two penalties in the final 10 minutes of New York's 2-1 victory in Game 4 on Wednesday. He also took four minor penalties and a misconduct in Game 3. Knowing they need to win three consecutive games, Washington picked up some momentum Friday from an unlikely source. Bradley is a 30-year-old right wing who never recorded a goal in 21 previous career postseason games. Indeed, Bradley ranked 17th on the Capitals in points during the regular season – behind Ovechkin and Semin and Mike Green, but also trailing some stay-at-home defensemen – with a total of five goals, only one over the final 42 games. Russia, Canada off to winning starts at Worlds Tournament favorites Russia and Canada posted convincing victories on the opening day of the Ice Hockey World Championship on Friday. Defending champion Russia beat Germany 5-0 in Bern, and Canada, silver medalist a year ago, downed Belarus 6-1 in Zurich with Steve Stamkos and Dany Heatley each scoring twice. Also, host Switzerland edged France 1-0 in a tense affair in Bern, and Slovakia got a late goal for a 4-3 win against Hungary, outsiders in the 16-nation tournament. Russia, ranked No. 1, had five NHL players among the 20 dressed for the game. Rosters can be increased during the 17-day tournament with players allowed to join after their clubs are knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
