Matt Bradley, right, beats Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist for the opening goal of Game 5. (Len Redkoles/Getty Images)

With their team facing elimination, stars and scrubs alike answered the call for the Capitals.

Fourth-liner Matt Bradley scored the first two playoff goals of his career and NHL goals champion Alex Ovechkin added a highlight-reel effort of his own as the Washington Capitals stayed alive with a 4-0 thumping of the visiting New York Rangers on Friday night.

The Capitals still trail the best-of-seven series 3-2, with Game 6 set for Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden (2 p.m. ET).

"We never give up. We fight. We love the situation," Ovechkin said. "It's hard, but we love it."

Alexander Semin also scored for Washington, and rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov made 20 saves for his second shutout of the playoffs.

Henrik Lundqvist allowed four goals on 14 shots for the Rangers before backup Stephen Valiquette replaced him for the third period. Valiquette stopped all seven shots he faced.

New York was without Sean Avery. The combustible forward was scratched by coach John Tortorella after racking up six minor penalties over the last two contests, including a pair in the third period of Game 4, which New York hung on to win 2-1.

Coach loses cool

Tortorella, not exactly known for an even temper himself, got into an altercation with a fan in the third period of Friday's blowout loss. The coach threw a plastic drinking bottle over the glass and into the stands behind the Rangers bench and got into a shouting match with a fan with about 14 minutes left.

After Tortorella heaved the bottle, he grabbed a hockey stick and held it high. It wasn't clear whether the fan tossed anything at Tortorella, but the coach was seen wiping his suit jacket with a towel.

He was in no mood to discuss the incident with reporters after the game.

"Ask me a question about the game. That has nothing to do with today," Tortorella said.

Rangers players wouldn't go into any detail, either.

"When I looked over, Torts was turned and facing the crowd," defenceman Marc Staal said. "He might have gotten squirted or something. I'm not really sure."

Ovechkin tops them all

It was clear from the get-go that Washington, the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, had no interest in seeing the seventh-seeded Rangers toast an upset victory.

Less than five minutes after the puck dropped, Bradley put the Caps ahead for good with a short-handed effort more reminiscent of the best work of Ovechkin than of a guy who scored just five goals in 81 regular-season games.

When New York defenceman Michal Rozsival failed to hold the puck in at the Rangers blue-line, Bradley scooped it up for a breakaway, froze Lundqvist with a deke and roofed a backhand for just his second goal since Jan. 2.

"Brads is the superstar tonight," said Washington defenceman Mike Green. "He's a guy who works hard, plays few minutes, and for him to step up like that tonight — he carried the team in the first period."

The 30-year-old from Stittsville, Ont., struck again at the 12-minute mark, chasing down a puck toward the corner and, from a near-impossible angle, squeezing a shot between Lundqvist's pads to make it 2-0.

"I'm not going to lie: I wasn't trying to score like that," said Bradley, who before Friday hadn't scored in 21 career playoff games. "I was just trying to get it on net."

Semin added to the lead five minutes into the second, finding the top corner with a wicked wrist shot off a faceoff to Lundqvist's left for his fourth goal of the playoffs.

Ovechkin topped them all with 29 seconds left in the second. Barreling in on the left wing, he cut inside on defenceman Derek Morris, slipped a bodycheck from forward Chris Drury, beat Morris for a second time and shoveled the puck past Lundqvist as he fell to the ice.

It was the second goal in as many games for Ovechkin, who led the NHL with 56 in the regular season but was held off the board in the first three games of the playoffs.

With files from The Associated Press