Washington, DC -- (Sports Network) - Sergei Fedorov's tally with just under five minutes left in regulation was the difference, as the Washington Capitals posted a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at Verizon Center.

Alexander Semin notched the other goal for the Capitals, who responded with three consecutive wins to take the series, 4-3.

It marked just the second time in team annals that the club won a playoff series after trailing three games to one, following a Game 7 overtime victory in the 1988 Patrick Division semifinals against the Flyers.

"If you just focus on what's ahead of you, that's what we had to do," said Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau. "To win three games is a really difficult thing, and that's why it hasn't been done much. We just focused on one game at a time and one day at a time. In the end you said, 'holy smokes you won three.' It doesn't seem as much."

There was extra vindication in the triumph, as the Capitals had rallied from a 1-3 series deficit last season in the conference quarterfinals against Philadelphia only to lose Game 7 in overtime at home.

Due to Carolina's 4-3 decision at New Jersey in Game 7 of that best-of-seven quarterfinal, the second-seeded Capitals will face the four-seed Penguins in the conference semifinals. That series is slated to begin on Saturday in Washington.

Simeon Varlamov continued his stellar play in his first taste of the postseason, stopping 14-of-15 shots for Washington, which hadn't taken a playoff series dating back to a six-game triumph over Buffalo in the 1998 Eastern Conference finals.

Nik Antropov provided the lone score for the Rangers, who failed to advance despite a 3-1 series edge for the first time in franchise playoff history.

Henrik Lundqvist allowed two goals on 24 shots for New York, which hadn't faced a Game 7 since its 3-2 victory against Vancouver in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals.

"It's tough, I can't believe the season is over," said Lundqvist. "We played our best game of the series tonight. We did a great job, had a great feeling going into the third. Maybe in a seven-game series they were the better team."

A three-time Stanley Cup winner with Detroit, Fedorov provided the series- clinching goal with 4:59 left in the third period.

The veteran pivot gathered in a pass from Matt Bradley and carried down the right wing. He stopped just to the outside of the faceoff dot, and, using Alexander Ovechkin as a decoy on the opposite wing, ripped a shot under the crossbar on the short side.

Once noted as a flashy playmaker and goal-scorer, the tally was the first of these playoffs for the 39-year-old.

"I shot it top-shelf, which was his short side," said Fedorov. "It's pretty standard for what we practice. It was obviously a big deal for us because we wanted to win and not experience last year."

The Caps kept coming on successive shifts, and Semin was denied a chance to extend the advantage when he was robbed on a 2-on-1 break with 2:50 remaining.

Due to ferocious forechecking by the home team, the Rangers were unable to remove their netminder for an extra skater inside the final minute of play.

The Swedish netminder flashed his right pad to stone David Steckel on a breakaway with 20 seconds left but the visitors were unable to establish any offensive flow as time ran out.

Varlamov had to be sharp in the first 40 seconds alone, stopping Sean Avery on a backhander from the high slot, then Antropov on a breakaway.

Antropov did make good, following up Brandon Dubinsky's drop pass in the crease with a wrister for a 1-0 Rangers lead 5:35 into the contest.

After failing on a power-play chance, the Caps got on the board with 4:26 left in the first. Semin accepted a dish from Nicklas Backstrom and his shot from the slot was muted by Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi's stick -- but only enough to slow it and alter its path so that it knuckled past Lundqvist, who slid too far to his right to try for the save.

Varlamov made a quick pad save on an Avery deflection inside the final minute of the second period and kept the game knotted at 1-1.

Neither side hit the net in the middle 20 minutes, with the Caps outshooting the Rangers by a 9-6 margin.

Game Notes:

John Tortorella returned to the bench for New York, after serving a one-game suspension for squirting water at a fan in Game 5...The Capitals improved to 2-5 in Game 7s, while the Rangers fell to 3-5 all-time in Game 7s...New York was limited to one third-period shot while Washington racked up 13...Capitals enforcer Donald Brashear missed the contest, serving the first game of his six-game suspension for actions in Sunday's Game 6...Caps forward Chris Clark took Brashear's place in the lineup...Rangers forward Blair Betts, who was on the wrong end of Brashear's hit, did not dress due to an upper-body injury.