Capitals rout the Rangers again

John Tortorella’s view from a suite in New York was no better than the one from the bench, and the suspended coach watched helplessly as the Washington Capitals routed his Rangers for the second straight game.

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist again didn’t make it to the third period, and Washington defenseman Tom Poti torched his former team in the Capitals’ 5-3 victory that tied the first-round playoff series and set up a decisive Game 7 on Tuesday in Washington.

The Capitals had trailed the series, 3-1.

Tortorella served a one-game suspension following a confrontation with a fan Friday during New York’s 4-0 loss in Game 5. Tortorella squirted water into the crowd and threw a water bottle over the glass and into the stands.

On Sunday, Tortorella sat in a suite and rested his chin in his palm as the game turned from bad to worse under the offensive onslaught unleashed by the Capitals.

Jim Schoenfeld, Tortorella’s lone assistant coach, ran the club in his absence and said before the game that Tortorella was sticking up for his players against slurs from the crowd.

Even the return of benched forward Sean Avery couldn’t spark the Rangers, who have been outscored, 9-3, since moving within a win of advancing.

Tortorella will be allowed to coach Game 7 in Washington, where the Rangers said in a letter to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman that security was lax -- a factor the team said led to the water incident.

Carolina 4, New Jersey 0 -- Eric Staal scored two goals less than three minutes apart at Raleigh, N.C., and Cam Ward made 28 saves in his third career playoff shutout as the Hurricanes forced a Game 7.

Ray Whitney had a goal and three assists, Jussi Jokinen scored Carolina’s first power-play goal since Game 2, Chad LaRose had two assists and Staal added an assist for the Hurricanes.

They outshot the Devils, 37-28, in the most lopsided final score of the NHL’s tightest first-round pairing.