Caps regain control in rout
Teammates step up to win Game 5 with Oshie likely out for postseason
The “T.J. Oshie” chants started late in the third period, with the Washington Capitals well ahead on the scoreboard and their Stanley Cup-winning swagger apparently back. Oshie had been the one to start those “back-to-back” chants, inciting the crowd at the championship parade last June as he announced the team’s ambitions for this season.
After suffering an undisclosed upperbody injury Thursday night, Oshie is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of this postseason, but in a pivotal Game 5 the Capitals answered the question of who would step up to replace him: everyone.
The Capitals got a goal from all four lines and goaltender Braden Holtby recorded 30 saves in a 6-0 victory that lifted Washington to a 3-2 series lead. It can advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with a win Monday in Game 6 at PNC Arena.
The score was appropriately lopsided as the Capitals rediscovered their game. They dominated at five-on-five with their most offensive-zone time of the series and a punishing forecheck. Their power play was dangerous, scoring three times, and their penalty kill was similarly stout with three second-period holds.
Home ice was especially sweet after how Raleigh, N.C., wasn’t kind to the Capitals, first with a 5-0 blowout loss and then with a 2-1 Game 4 loss that also featured a devastating injury to Oshie. Washington’s scoring depth was hurting even before Oshie was pushed into the boards by Hurricanes forward Warren Foegele in the third period of Game 4. Most concerning about those two losses was that the Capitals didn’t have a five-on-five goal in either of them, and entering Saturday night’s Game 5, the bottom two lines had yet to score.
The stars got things started Saturday. Through five games in this series, the team that has scored first went on to win. Center Nicklas Backstrom drew a highstick infraction from Lucas Wallmark during a Carolina power play, negating the Hurricanes’ man-advantage and giving Washington an abbreviated one.
He then collected a feed from defenseman John Carlson on the power play, and after goaltender Mrazek stopped Backstrom’s first shot, Backstrom punched in his own rebound through Mrazek’s legs TV: Radio: for the 1-0 lead 7:33 into the game.
The Capitals then killed off three penalties in the second period, allowing just four shots, but they had just one of their own for the frame. The second one was an odd-man rush, captain Alex Ovechkin picking off a pass by Foegele to setup Backstrom for his second goal of the game. His five goals this series are a team-high.
And then Washington finally got a five-on-five goal from a bottom-six forward.
Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton appeared to be expecting an icing call as he and Ovechkin raced down the ice. The whistle never came, and Ovechkin got the loose puck to feed Brett Connolly in front of the net for his first goal of the playoffs and a three-goal lead.
Tom Wilson scored on a power play to start the third period. Then fourth-line center Nic Dowd scored on a penalty shot. And after tallying two primary assists, Ovechkin added a goal with a power-play one-timer, stretching the lead to six goals.
With Oshie sidelined, the Capitals recalled forward Devante Smith-Pelly from the American Hockey League on Friday afternoon.
Smith-Pelly became a fan favorite with seven goals in the playoffs last year, equaling his regular-season total. Washington had to clear salary-cap space for the trade-deadline additions of forward Carl Hagelin and defenseman Nick Jensen in late February, and coach Todd Reirden said Saturday that Smith-Pelly’s progression had stalled with just four goals and four assists to that point, so he was the one waived.
Smith-Pelly got a warm welcome back to Capital One Arena with a standing ovation on his first shift of the game and then “D-S-P” chants later in the first period.
While Washington will take any secondary scoring it can get, the realistic expectations for him are to provide a physical element with the forecheck, an aspect the team had been lacking through the series’ first four games. He delivered that, and his presence also seemed to provide an emotional lift the team, more of the championship gang back together.
It certainly looked that way on the ice.