Capitals back in series with OT win
Penguins show plenty of fight despite losing Crosby to injury in the first period
On Monday morning, Washington Capitals defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk stood in front of his locker and admitted his struggles. Capitals head coach Barry Trotz had criticized his play, and Shattenkirk admitted that it had been poor this post-season. He said he had lost his joy for playing hockey, and now it was time to find that again.
Being at the centre of a goal celebration after an overtime gamewinner looked fun. On a power play, Shattenkirk scored to lift the Capitals to a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal. That cut Pittsburgh’s lead in the series to 2-1, a deficit Washington surmounted in just the last round against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But first, this strange playoff game saw Pittsburgh’s best player get injured and the Capitals get out to a two-goal lead, only to lose it in the last two minutes of regulation. The hero was the beleaguered Shattenkirk, traded to Washington in late February. Entering Monday night, he had a team-worst minus-seven rating in the post-season. Yet he was the one who helped extend the series to at least five games.
Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby had been serenaded from the first minute of the game. Chants of “Holt-by” at PPG Paints Arena mocked the goalie, but for 58:07, his play mocked them back. He did his best impression of a wall, poised to guide the Capitals to a shutout.
But then with Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury pulled for an extra attacker, Evgeni Malkin’s goal halved Washington’s twogoal cushion with 1:53 left in the third period. The chants of “Holtby” returned. Forty-eight seconds later, Justin Schultz scored from the point to tie the game and force overtime, a demoralizing circumstance after the Capitals had led since the first period.
Holtby had been yanked in Game 2 after allowing three goals on 14 shots through two periods. With his coach and teammates standing behind him as the starter for Game 3, Holtby was Washington’s best player most of the night, saving the first 26 shots he saw before Pittsburgh scored on two of its last three of regulation to force overtime.
The Penguins’ late surge was impressive considering their captain went down just 5:24 into the game. Sidney Crosby drove the net on a two-on-one and Holtby was able to stop his scoring chance with a poke check. But in trying to stop Crosby, Alex Ovechkin made contact with the top of Crosby’s head with his stick, and Capitals defenceman Matt Niskanen then cross-checked Crosby high.
Crosby has a history of concussions, including one earlier this season, but it’s unclear if he suffered a head injury or if it was the way he landed awkwardly on his left leg that knocked him out of the game.
He lay face-down on the ice until a trainer helped him off. Crosby, who led the NHL with 44 goals during the regular season, did not return to the game. Forward Conor Sheary also went down in the second period after a collision with a teammate.
Niskanen was initially assessed a minor for cross-checking Crosby, but the penalty was changed to a major and Niskanen was given a game misconduct. That put the Penguins on a five-minute power play, and it meant Washington would be down a defenceman for the rest of the game. Trotz opted to dress seven defencemen and 11 forwards to get Karl Alzner back in the lineup, so even with Niskanen out, Washington still had its usual complement of six defencemen.
The defining moment for the Capitals came when they were able to keep the Penguins off the board on the ensuing power play, which included two minutes of four-on-four after Malkin was called for closing his hand over the puck. In three minutes of powerplay time, the Penguins tallied four shots on goal.
Shortly after surviving Pittsburgh’s power play, the Capitals got one of their own. Carl Hagelin was called for high-sticking, and then Bryan Rust sailed the puck over the glass to make it a two-man advantage. Just as the first penalty expired, Nicklas Backstrom banked in a goal off Pittsburgh defenceman Ian Cole. That gave Washington its first lead in the series.
That the Capitals were able to maintain their advantage for as long as they did was a testament to Holtby. The game took on a nasty, physical tone after Crosby’s injury, and while there was mayhem on the ice at times, Holtby looked poised in net. With Pittsburgh on the power play three times in the second period, Holtby made 15 saves in the frame. Evgeny Kuznetsov then added to the Capitals’ cushion with a third-period goal, but it still wasn’t enough to avoid overtime.