WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Jay Beagle ambled into the Washington Capitals' dressing room, still sweating, navigating the crowded confines with his skates on, looking somewhat sheepishly at his own stall, blocked by a throng of reporters talking to linemate Troy Brouwer.

As Beagle steadied himself, the crowd of reporters began to surround him. And for a second, he seemed a little bewildered.

Capitals coach Barry Trotz told his team heading into Game 3 that they needed some "new heroes," and Beagle fit the bill just fine.

The 29-year-old Beagle, not known for his wicked wrist shot or his superior stickhandling skills, but instead his commitment to the dirty areas of the ice, scored the lone goal in the Capitals’ 1-0 win against the New York Rangers on Monday night at Verizon Center.

"Anybody who has played for me [knows] I love the skill of the game, but I have a special place in my heart for those grinders, if you will," Trotz said.

It was a display of keen instincts, and also a bit of luck, as Beagle swept behind the net and backhanded the puck off defenseman Keith Yandle’s skate for a goal at 7:31 of the second period.

After a collection of chances already this spring that haven’t gone his way, Beagle finally got a bounce. Ask his teammates, and they will tell you he was more than due.

"He works, and works and works and works. Never asks questions or complains," defenseman Matt Niskanen said. "He got a lucky bounce for sure, but he deserves it."

Most of the areas in which Beagle excels don’t always garner the accolades that his other teammates are accustomed to getting. He’s a stalwart on the team’s penalty kill. And he’s a huge contributor with his strength from the faceoff circle.

Monday night, he won 10-of-12 faceoffs to go 83 percent from the dot, a big reason why the Capitals had the distinct edge in that area (40-for-58, 69 percent), and why Trotz said he felt comfortable icing the puck in the waning minutes of the game rather than burn a timeout.

"It’s something we worked on all year," said Beagle, who leads the league with a 67.5 percent on faceoffs this postseason. "It’s something that’s obviously amplified in the playoffs. Faceoffs are huge the whole year, but in the playoffs everything gets ramped up."

That would certainly be the way to describe the frenzied pace of play between the two teams in the final minutes of the third period, when the Rangers were desperate in trying to put one past goaltender Braden Holtby but instead came up empty-handed.

Holtby, who never seemed to flinch amidst the chaos, recorded his second career playoff shutout, making 30 saves to blank the Rangers. Holtby’s first playoff shutout? Exactly two seasons ago, a 1-0 shutout against the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Beagle might have been a new hero, but Holtby is no stranger to the role.

"I could sit here all day and tell you things about Holtby about how good he’s been and how good he’s been for us," Brouwer said. "Tonight was no different. He made the saves we needed him to make."

Brouwer admitted that they hung him out to dry a few times, including when he had to face a solo breakaway from Martin St. Louis. St. Louis sent it right into Holtby’s midsection.

There were not many Grade-A chances that Holtby faced before that, but there were plenty of good looks afterward, as the Rangers began to turn it on in the third period. Rookie Kevin Hayes, who wasn’t much of a factor in the first 40 minutes, generated offense in the final frame. Rick Nash was probably at his most active and engaged all postseason, diving to block passes, launching into an opponent for an open-ice hit and finishing the night with a game-high seven shots.

That physicality and fire are usually surefire signs of when Nash is at his best, though he has yet to be rewarded for his efforts, as he continues to look for his first goal of this series.

Fair or not, that means the scrutiny on Nash will only intensify as the series progresses. The Rangers need him to score even if he is doing all the other things right.

In the meantime, it will be Beagle’s night to bask in the spotlight, as uncomfortable as he might seem with the glare.

Holtby should be relishing his fare share of it, too, though he seems entirely nonplussed by any of his success. Maybe he can derive at least some satisfaction about the way he has stepped up in a goalie matchup in which many folks had favored Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist has been great this series. But Holtby has been better, boasting a 1.54 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage. With the way this trio of games has gone with low-scoring affairs, neither has much room for error.

"It’s not going to be easy," Lundqvist said. "They battle hard and they rely on skill when they have too. They have good goaltending, so overall it’s a good matchup. It’s a tough challenge for us but I think we can come back here and win the next one.

"That’s going to be the goal."