Penguins Oust Capitals in OT, Claim Playoff Berth

Before this season began I went on record as saying that, while I hoped our Penguins would make the playoffs, I wasn’t at all sure we would.

Truth be told, I didn’t think we were a playoff team. The competition was too strong. With his seemingly scatter-gun approach to signing free-agents, I didn’t feel then-GM Jim Rutherford had sufficiently addressed our needs during a rather turbulent off-season.

How wrong I was.

In many ways, last night’s 5-4 overtime victory over Washington was a microcosm our season. It wasn’t textbook by any stretch, we made plenty of mistakes and yielded a potentially crushing game-tying goal with 15 seconds remaining in regulation play. Yet we also displayed our extraordinary character and resilience.

The game didn’t start out so hot from a black-and-gold perspective. Just past the seven-minute mark the Caps capitalized (pun intended) on the man-advantage, thanks to a puck-over-the-glass penalty to Evan Rodrigues. Former Pen Justin Schultz blasted a one-timer from center point that was deflected home by long-time nemesis T.J. Oshie.

I confess to being worried. While the Capitals appeared to be fully invested, there seemed to be a lack of hop and urgency on our part, especially while defending in our own end. Then Kasperi Kapanen struck like a bolt from the blue and changed the tenor of the game.

With less than five minutes remaining in the opening frame, Nicklas Backstrom inexplicably passed the puck from the half-boards to the middle of the ice in his own zone. Like a predatory cat Kapanen pounced, picking off Backstrom’s bobble and beating Vitek Vanecek high to the glove side.

The Pens grabbed their first lead at 8:32 of the second period courtesy of some nice work by the fourth line. Colton Sceviour fed Jason Zucker, who in turn found Frederick Gaudreau in the slot. Playing in his first game since April 11, Freddy reached back and in one fluid motion swept the puck past Vanecek.

Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived. Thirty seconds later Dmitry Orlov hammered a redemptive feed from Backstrom off the post and in. Then the ex-Pens struck again, with Schultz setting up Daniel Sprong (remember him?) with a pretty shot-pass for a handsy deflection at the side of the net.

Three-two, bad guys.

With the ice starting to tilt in the wrong direction, our boys once again showed their mettle. Sceviour made a strong play along the wall to force a turnover and fed a short pass to Zach Aston-Reese, who slipped behind the Caps’ defense. Stone-cold of late, ZAR beat a slow-reacting Vanecek through the five-hole to knot the score at 3-all heading into the second intermission.

Cue “Kappy.” Midway through the final frame, Jared McCann found the flying Finn with a long lead pass off the wall. Kapanen turned Zdeno Chara into the world’s largest pylon and burned Vanecek with a beautiful shot high to the short side.

Man, does this kid have skills.

The Pens had ample opportunity to put the Caps away, especially after ex-Flyer Michael Raffl took a holding penalty at 15:35. Unfortunately, our guys couldn’t quite get ‘er done, either with the man-advantage or on subsequent cracks at an empty net.

We know how that goes. With 15 ticks remaining, we somehow conspired to leave Tom Wilson unattended mere feet from the net. Evgeny Kuznetsov found him with a sharp pass out of the corner. Tristan Jarry had no chance.

A crappy turn of events, to be sure. But our never-say-die boys shook off the misfortune. Turning lemons to lemonade, Jake Guentzel beat Vanecek with a buttery redirect at 2:11 of overtime to salvage a win and a hard-earned postseason berth.

Puckpourri

The Caps outshot the Pens, 37-35, and had the edge in physical play, outhitting us, 32-14. Garnet Hathaway tried to pick off Sidney Crosby at the Caps’ blue line, but at the last millisecond Sid spotted him and slipped the check.

Nine Penguins registered at least a point. Kapanen paced the attack with two goals, giving him 10 on the season. In addition to his world-class wheels and finishing skills, he’s solidly built and can play a power game.

Guentzel may not be the second coming of Patric Hornqvist when it comes to providing a net-front presence. (No one is.) But he sure wields a magic wand when it comes to tip-ins and deflections. Is this kid a hockey player, or what?

McCann and Sceviour picked up two assists apiece, the latter in just 6:19 of ice time. Cody Ceci, Mike Matheson and McCann each finished a plus-two.

On the flip side, Brian Dumoulin was a team worst minus-two. Kris Letang, Bryan Rust and Crosby each logged a minus-one.

Gaudreau replaced Mark Jankowski, who was a healthy scratch. Rodrigues exited in the first period with what at first appeared to be a serious foot or ankle injury. He’s currently listed as day-to-day.

Sprong’s goal was his 11th of the season and fourth in three games while subbing for Alex Ovechkin.

The Pens and Caps are tied for first in the MassMutual East with 69 points apiece. The Islanders are in third (65 points), followed by Boston (64) and the Rangers (58).