Capitals Beat Penguins 3-2 (OT), Pens Now Lead Series 2-1

Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 (OT) Monday night at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins now lead the series 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Semifinal, with Game 4 set for Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. The Capitals win assures a game 5 at Verizon Center on Saturday.
Braden Holtby got the start in goal for the Capitals. Marc-Andre Fleury got the start for the Penguins.

Karl Alzner skated in pre-game warm-ups for the first time since April 15th and returned to the lineup. The Capitals went with 7 defensemen for Game 3.

Paul Carey, Brett Connolly, Taylor Chorney, and Chandler Stephenson, who was called up from Hershey on Monday, were the healthy scratches.

QUICK NOTES:

The Capitals grabbed their first lead of the series with a goal by Nicklas Backstrom in the first period.
Nicklas Backstrom is also one goal shy of tying Dale Hunter (25) for third place on the Capitals’ postseason goals list.
Nicklas Backstrom has passed Dale Hunter for most postseason assists in franchise history.
Capitals would relinquish a 2-0 lead with less than 2 minutes to play in the game, and proceed to give up two goals to send the game into overtime.

FIRST PERIOD:
The first period began with a feisty tone, with plenty of hitting by both teams. Matt Niskanen received a game misconduct for this questionable hit on Sidney Crosby. Crosby would be helped from the ice and leave the game.

Daniel Winnik made a phenomenal save to keep the game scoreless midway through the opening frame.

Nicklas Backstrom would score the Caps first goal on a 5-on-3 power play at 13:05 of the first period.

The call from John Walton:

The first period would end with the Capitals leading 1-0. The Capitals led in shots on goal 9-8 for the opening frame.

SECOND PERIOD:
The physical play continued into the second period, but the period would ultimately go scoreless. Evgeny Kuznetsov looked to the have the Capitals second goal, but the Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury made a fantastic save.

The Penguins outshot the Capitals 15-10 for the middle frame, and 23-19 through the first two periods.

THIRD PERIOD:
Evgeny Kuznetsov would stretch the Capitals lead to 2-0 at the 9:46 mark of the final frame. The goal was setup by a nice feed from Marcus Johansson. Kuznetsov showed great patience on the finish.

Walton’s call:

The Penguins would pull the goalie with 3 minutes left in the game, and score on the 6-on-5 man advantage. Evgeni Malkin would notch the tally at 18:07 of the final frame.