Capitals Thump Penguins 3-1

It ain’t over till it’s over.

Whether the Washington Capitals used that time-honored Yogi Berra-ism as motivation to claw back from the brink in their second-round series with the Penguins is anybody’s guess. But they sure played like it in Game 5.

From Alex Ovechkin’s clutch game-opening goal and two-point performance to a bounce-back 30-save effort by Braden Holtby, everyone clad in red, white, and blue contributed.

Sluggish first period aside, there was little for Barry Trotz’s crew not to like about their thoroughly convincing 3-1 victory last night at the Verizon Center. They capitalized (no pun intended) on some undisciplined play by the Pens—not to mention a wobbly effort by rookie goalie Matt Murray—to score two power-play goals. They were physical without going over the edge. They denied our boys access to the prime scoring areas.

Most important, they lived to fight another day.

Shortly after Ovechkin spotted the Caps a 1-0 lead with a power-play tally, tough guy Tom Wilson sent a clear signal that the Pens would need to battle for every inch of space. While killing a penalty to Nicklas Backstrom, he grabbed Sidney Crosby roughly from behind and applied a choke hold, giving our captain the bum’s rush before unceremoniously dropping Sid on his wallet.

In case the message didn’t take, Wilson knocked Ian Cole to the ice later on and held him down with the apparent ease of one pinning an office memo to a bulletin board.

To the Pens’ credit, they responded to the initial malfeasance. Taking a short feed from Crosby, Phil Kessel cut loose a one-timer from the slot. The puck popped off of Holtby’s pads to Chris Kunitz, who jammed it in from the doorstep. It was Kuny’s first goal of the playoffs.

The Pens proceeded to outshoot the Caps by a 12-4 margin in the first period. Then the game went off the rails for the locals. With key forward and penalty killer Nick Bonino hobbled after blocking a shot, the home team took charge.

Cole retaliated against Wilson early in the second period and the Pens paid dearly. From his patented perch in the left circle, Ovechkin drilled a hard shot on net that Murray stopped, but couldn’t control. T.J. Oshie pounced on the juicy rebound to stake the Caps to a 2-1 lead.

“Our team has had success because we’ve had discipline and playing the game the right way,” Pens coach Mike Sullivan explained afterward. “When you play a team like Washington that has a power play as good as it is, you can’t give it an opportunity to be the difference.”

Six minutes later Washington was up by two. Jason Chimera swatted Brian Dumoulin’s stick just as No. 8 tried to clear the puck. Justin Williams picked off the muffed outlet pass and beat Murray through the five hole.

For the first time in recent memory, the Pens appeared to unravel. Crosby clearly was frustrated. Sullivan looked perplexed. He uncharacteristically juggled his lines while keeping net-front battler Patric Hornqvist tethered to the bench for much of the third period.

Meanwhile, the Capitals continued to impose their will until the closing minutes, when the Pens finally began a belated push. Holtby, who made key saves on Hornqvist and Justin Schultz earlier in the contest, slammed the door to earn the game’s No. 1 star.

“No one wants to be finished playing right now,” said Caps defenseman Karl Alzner. “And I think you’re going to see probably the best hockey that this team’s played this year.”

The take from the Penguins’ locker room?

“There were a few spots where we slipped a little bit, and that’s kind of uncharacteristic of us,” Matt Cullen said. “But that’s a good team on the other side, too, so you tip your hat to them.”

Hart Nominee

Crosby was named a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy on Saturday. Sid joins Chicago’s Patrick Kane and Jamie Benn of Dallas as nominees for the coveted award, bestowed each year by the NHL “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.”

A two-time Hart recipient (2006-07, 2013-14), Crosby overcame a slow start to finish third in the league scoring race behind Kane and Benn.

Letang and Fehr Return

Kris Letang and Eric Fehr returned to the Pens’ lineup after missing Game 4. The unquestioned stalwart of the black-and-gold defense, “Tanger” logged 30:11 of ice time and recorded three hits and two shots on goal. Fehr skated just over 10 minutes and was a minus-1.

Derrick Pouliot and Oskar Sundqvist joined Tom Sestito and Jeff Zatkoff as healthy scratches. Beau Bennett (shoulder) and Olli Maatta (head injury) sat out as well.

Sestito was returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton today.