But the Capitals' breakthrough Saturday might be a sign their luck is about to change. He once told Capitals owner Ted Leonsis a story about going to a discothèque and downing 20 Red Bulls in a single night; those days are nearly certainly behind him, too. That said, there was reason to be wary about the chance their beloved Washington club could mount a third-period comeback.
The Penguins' main weapons broke through on the man-advantage but offered little resistance during even-strength play, a formula that didn't prove fruitful against the surging Capitals. Only twice during the regular season did Pittsburgh lose when entering the third with a lead.
Marc-Andre Fleury was standing on his head in the Penguins' net and masking all of the flaws that existed in front of him defensively.
"Obviously I think our team is at its best when its in the offensive zone", said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan following Monday's game. The Washington Capitals have won 14 of their last 17 games when allowing three or less goals. In fact, it hasn't even really been all that close.
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin scored 27 seconds apart in the third period as the host Washington Capitals avoided elimination by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 in Game 5 on Saturday night. The Penguins pushed for five games. Were going to have to be the best team in the league if were going to win this series. Crosby told reporters that his team needs to focus on puck possession as a means to overcome a huge shot discrepancy in the series (Washington leads 174-115).
For the season series, the Capitals are still plus-5 in goal differential. You are playing a desperate team and I think for us, we have to have that same desperation.
Capitals are running out of ways to try to beat the Penguins
Now Trotz must decide which goalie will protect Washington's net in Game 3 - and prevent another season from slipping away. Hagelin called it a "step in the right direction" but said it's hard to determine if he'll feel good enough to play.
The Capitals have lost seven of their last eight in Pittsburgh. The over/under total is listed at 5.5 goals.
With that said, having Crosby and Sheary back in the lineup so soon is either flaunting conventional medical wisdom or perhaps a good thing for the Penguins' chances. In addition, 23 shots on goal have come from the so-called high-danger area of the ice. Capitals netminder Braden Holtby saw only 11 shots against of the same difficulty. The Penguins come through this time of year more times than not, have been terrific at home overall and have Sidney Crosby back. They'll need to win their second game in a row in order to send the series to Game 7. "It turns our mind around...and we start believing and we start to play the way we're capable".
Of all the goals, Ovechkin's was probably the least important to the outcome, but possibly most vital to the Capitals' chances of rallying to win this series. Actually getting pucks past the Pittsburgh netminder could be a different story, however. The Penguins are 60-19 in their last 79 home games, 7-3 in their last 10 Conference Semifinals games and 7-3 in their last 10 overall.
Turris scored 6:28 into overtime to lift the Senators to 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday for a 3-2 series lead in their second-round series. "I thought [Saturday] night, really for the first time in the series, that sort of happened".
TSN's expert panel of Ray Ferraro, Jeff O'Neill, Jamie McLennan, Craig Button and Darren Dreger has Pittsburgh at No. 1 and Washington at No. 6. He knows that he's got to be a difference-maker and he's going to play against top guys and he's going to be a guy that can't take minutes off and has got to be detailed and has got to fight for his inches.
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