Penguins Nip Capitals on Bonino’s Game Winner

“You guys wanna play?” snapped Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. “Then get the puck in deep.”

The object of “Sully’s” ire, according to NBCSN’s between-the-benches guy Pierre McGuire? … The Pens’ newly constructed third line of Scott Wilson, Conor Sheary and Nick Bonino.

Apparently the troubled trio got the message, loud and clear. Minutes after Washington knotted the score midway through the third period, Bonino took a pretty feed from Wilson in stride, shrugged off a whack from ex-Pen Brooks Orpik, and laced the puck past Caps goalie Braden Holtby on the blocker side.

“Bones’s” bolt, which quelled a Caps rally and propelled the Pens to a scintillating 3-2 victory in the Second Round series opener, was framed from a black-and-gold perspective by a pair of extraordinary sequences.

The first featured captain Sidney Crosby in a starring role. Seconds after Sid won the faceoff to begin the second period, Jake Guentzel pounced on a loose puck and sped over the Washington blue line. Breaking down the left side, the Pens’ rookie sensation slipped a no-look pass to Crosby at the right faceoff dot. In perfect shooting position, Sid whipped the puck past Holtby to the glove side.

Sullivan, who had rolled four lines through a scoreless opening period, smartly turned back to his hot hand. Number 87 didn’t disappoint.

Fifty-two seconds after his initial tally, Crosby—working both ends of the ice—scooped up the puck in the Pens’ zone and sprang Guentzel with a bounce pass off the far side boards. Jake, in turn, fed Olli Maatta, who hammered a shot on net. Holtby made the save but couldn’t control the rebound. From his customary perch in the slot, Patric Hornqvist settled the puck and dished a short pass to Crosby racing in from the right circle. Holtby was helpless.

Sid was quick to credit his linemates.

“It was two great plays,” he said. “On both (Hornqvist) gave us some loose pucks. He poked a couple pucks free and then Jake made a great pass on the 2-on-1. (Hornqvist) found me on the rebound there, so some really good looks from that.”

Fast-forward to the other bookend sequence, this one shining the spotlight on Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. As the game clock ticked down to the closing minutes of regulation, Caps defenseman Nate Schmidt fired off a rocket from the right point. The puck popped off Fleury and into the slot, instantly drawing a crush of skaters—friend and foe alike.

For the next 24 seconds, the Caps’ biggest guns—Alex Ovechkin, Niklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov—tried everything short of picking up the puck and tossing it into the net. While they flailed at the bouncing rubber—and anyone wearing a Penguins crest—Fleury laid supine on the ice, lost his stick, clambered to his knees to stop John Carlson, was (intentionally) bowled over by Ovechkin, scrambled back to his knees to stop Schmidt, stacked his pads to thwart Backstrom from point-blank range, and somehow had the wherewithal to sprawl on the puck and draw a whistle.

“I couldn’t see the puck for a little while there,” Fleury admitted afterward in his typically modest manner. “I had no stick, so I was trying to make some stops. It was fun.”

In between the (black and) gold moments? There was plenty of action, most of it controlled by the home team. Although the Pens were better on the transition and, for the most part, avoided being pinned in their zone for extended periods, the Caps piled up a staggering 83-41 edge in shot attempts.

Fortunately, only two of them eluded Fleury. Ovechkin struck on a bullet from his favorite spot atop the left circle at 18:17 of the second period. Countryman Kuznetsov evened the score eight minutes into the final frame, thanks to a sharp cross-ice dish from former Pen Matt Niskanen. Thus setting the table for Bonino’s heroics.

“I haven’t had a breakaway in I don’t know how long,” Bonino said, describing the game-winning goal. “I just tried to get it on net, and it found a hole there.”

Softening in the afterglow of victory, Sullivan was most appreciative.

“I just think Bones is a guy that’s a high-stakes player,” Sully said. “He brings his best game when the games are most important.”

Puckpourri

The Capitals outshot the Pens, 35-21, and dominated in hits (41-17). The Pens won 54 percent of the faceoffs and blocked 29 shots, compared to eight for Washington.

Ian Cole made a beautiful stretch pass on Bonino’s tally. The goal was Bones’ second straight game-winner against the Caps in postseason play. Last spring he scored the series-clincher in overtime of Game 6, enabling the Pens to advance to the Conference Finals.

Bonino earned the number one star, following by Crosby. Incredibly, Fleury (33 saves) was snubbed in favor of Ovechkin for third-star honors.

Chris Kunitz returned to the lineup after missing the First Round series with an upper-body injury. Skating on the fourth line, “Kuny” registered a team-high four hits and three shots in 12:59 of ice time.

Carter Rowney, Chad Ruhwedel and Mark Streit were healthy scratches.