Oshie trick overshadows Ovechkin, Crosby show
WASHINGTON— T.J. Oshie completed a hat trick in overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night in a classic start to the highly anticipated second-round playoff series between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.
Oshie’s wraparound goal 9:33 into overtime of Game 1 stood up after video review once it was definitively shown that the puck went over the goal line.
Vezina Trophy finalist Braden Holtby made 42 saves, and Andre Burakovsky also scored for the Capitals.
Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray stopped 43 shots. Ben Lovejoy, Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bonino scored for the Penguins, who will try to even the series Saturday night in Game 2.
Ovechkin assisted on Oshie’s second goal, while Crosby was on the ice for three goals against. This is the first playoff meeting between the 2004 and 2005 No. 1 picks since 2009.
After days of hype, the Penguins jumped out to a fast start. Chris Kunitz fired a shot off the post in the first minute, and Pittsburgh had five of the game’s first six shots.
A tripping penalty on Pittsburgh’s Matt Cullen didn’t lead to a powerplay goal but it turned the tide. The game was played almost entirely in the Penguins’ defensive end as Washington had 10 consecutive shots on goal.
The ninth and 10th in that sequence came off the rush10:13 in and made it 1-0 Washington. With John Carlson and Jason Chimera on a 3-on-2 advantage, Burakovsky fed Chimera and scored on the rebound off Mur- ray’s left pad.
Oshie scored his first goal — the third in 90 seconds — to tie the game 2-2 in the second, beating Murray gloveside on a breakaway. He got his second 3:23 into the third, on a soft backhander after a feed from Ovechkin.
The Penguins took advantage of a rare defensive-zone turnover by Nicklas Backstrom to tie it again five minutes later, with Bonino’s shot going off Nate Schmidt and in.
Each team had a golden opportunity to score in the final minutes of regulation. Murray denied Ovechkin on a partial breakaway with 3:23 left, and Holtby stopped Phil Kessel seconds later to help get the game to overtime, where Oshie was the hero.