Caps down Penguins to tie play-off series
NEW YORK: Andre Burakovsky scored twice as the Washington Capitals thrashed the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 to level their Eastern Conference semi-final series on Monday.
TJ Oshie opened the scoring in the first period before Burakovsky grabbed his first of the night in the second period to give the Caps a deserved 2-0 lead at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena.
Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson and Burakovsky all struck in quick succession to fire Washington into a commanding 5-0 lead in the third period to all but guarantee victory.
Two late goals from Jake Guentzel and Evegeni Malkin were mere consolation for the Penguins, who at one stage had led the best-of-seven series 3-1.
“Since Game Three, we’ve had a calmness about what we’re doing. We’re having fun now,” said Capitals coach Barry Trotz.
The series will now be settled in a decisive Game Seven in Washington on Thursday morning (Thai time).
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan offered no excuses after the defending champions fluffed another chance to wrap up the series.
“It’s frustrating,” Sullivan said. “You’ve
got an opportunity to win a game like this and win a series at home. To a man, we weren’t good enough.”
The Capitals attacking dominance was backed by a solid display in goal by Braden Holtby who made 16 saves. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was given a torrid time, blocking 21 of 26 shots.
Pittsburgh struggled to generate any early fluency and their first shot on goal didn’t arrive until 12:17 of the first period, a long clear by Brian Dumoulin.
Washington opened the scoring on the same powerplay, when Backstrom released Evgeny Kuznetsov who set up Oshie for a 1-0 lead.
Fleury kept Pittsburgh in touch with several key saves, including a superb block from Alex Ovechkin in the left circle.
The Penguins were also given a scare when Sidney Crosby, in only his second game back from a concussion, suffered a bloody nose from a teammate’s stick.
The Canadian star was also sent crashing into the boards during a Penguins powerplay.
Washington’s early pressure was rewarded when Burakovsky doubled the lead at 6:36 of the second after forcing a turnover by Ron Hainsey.