Capitals Nip Penguins 4-3 in OT

Paced by T.J. Oshie’s first playoff hat trick and a 42-save performance by Braden Holtby, the Washington Capitals drew first blood in their Eastern Conference Semifinals tilt against our Pittsburgh Penguins.

Oshie’s game winner at 9:36 of overtime was pure hustle. Picking off an errant Trevor Daley outlet pass, No. 77 sliced through the Penguins’ zone, swooped around Brian Dumoulin, swung behind the net, and jammed the puck under goalie Matt Murray’s pad at the far post.

The goal capped an entertaining contest befitting two of hockey’s elite teams, filled with plenty of drama and momentum swings.

The Penguins held the early edge, testing Holtby right out of the gate. However, a tripping penalty to Matt Cullen ended the surge and opened the door for the home team. Washington reeled off 10 unanswered shots, culminating in Andre Burakovsky’s second-chance goal on a Jason Chimera rebound.

Washington finished the opening frame with a 1-0 lead, not to mention a 15-9 edge in shots on goal and a healthy 17-7 advantage in hits.

Displaying their trademark resilience, the Pens clawed back. At 10:40 of the second period, Carl Hagelin dished a backhand pass to Nick Bonino. With a dip of the shoulder and some shake and bake, “Bones” eluded Caps defenders Dmitry Orlov and Nate Schmidt and snapped off a low, hard shot. Ben Lovejoy pounced on the rebound to knot the score at 1-all.

Fifty-seven seconds later the Pens had the lead. After corralling a loose puck along the wall, Chris Kunitz found Evgeni Malkin cruising through the right faceoff circle. “Geno’s” wicked backhand from an incredibly sharp angle rang off the crossbar and far post before bounding across the goal line.

Malkin’s lightning bolt of a goal touched off an emotional on-ice celebration. On the Pens’ bench, captain Sidney Crosby gave youthful linemate Conor Sheary a knowing whack on the arm.

Sadly for the locals, the elation was short-lived. On the ensuing shift, a suddenly error-prone Olli Maatta coughed up the puck to Oshie at the Caps’ blue line. The former St. Louis star raced up ice and beat Murray high to the glove side.

Malkin provided a momentary lift by ramming tough guy Tom Wilson into the boards. But the momentum once again favored Washington. Early in the third period Alex Ovechkin steamed into the offensive zone. Mesmerized by “the Great Eight,” four Pens stood idly by while Ovechkin fed an onrushing Oshie. T.J. snapped the puck under Murray’s right pad to stake the Caps to a 3-2 lead.

Down but not out, the Pens flashed one last bit of magic. At 8:42 of the period Phil Kessel chipped a short pass to Hagelin behind the net. The speedy Swede set up the bearded Bonino, who beat Holtby low on the short side.

The black and gold dominated the shot clock, 13-5, during the final 20 minutes but failed to notch the go-ahead goal.

The stage was set for Oshie’s overtime heroics.

“This game could have went either way,” Pens coach Mike Sullivan said. “It was an even game. Our guys played hard. I thought we carried stretches of momentum for long periods of time. It didn’t go our way. We’ll learn from it, put it behind us and try to get Game 2.”

Plus and Minus

It was a rough night for the Pens’ top line. Crosby, Sheary and Patric Hornqvist failed to register a point. Each was a minus-3. The defensive duo of Daley and Dumoulin (both minus-3) struggled as well.

On the flip side, the Bonino-Hagelin-Kessel line accounted for two goals and five of the Pens’ nine points. The trio was a collective plus-6.

Lovejoy and Ian Cole (three hits) both recorded a plus-2.

Cheap Shot

To no one’s surprise, the rambunctious Wilson was a physical force. The Capitals’ heavy dished out six hits in just over 15 minutes of ice time, including a booming first-period check on former teammate Eric Fehr.

Wilson crossed the line four minutes into the third period. The 6’4” 215-pounder charged at Sheary in front of the benches, blatantly stuck out a leg, and cut down the diminutive Pens winger with a brutal knee-on-knee hit.

Sheary somersaulted to the ice, taking out Dumoulin in the process. He hobbled to the bench in obvious pain. Remarkably, the gutsy rookie returned after missing a few shifts.

Wilson wasn’t penalized.