WASHINGTON, D.C. — After practice on May 6, the Washington Capitals had a meeting and talked about how they were one loss from elimination in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They realized their season could be over, and decided to not let it end.
The Caps kept it alive with a 3-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Verizon Center on Saturday.
In an execute or be executed situation, Caps goaltender Braden Holtby turned the tides in Game 5, turning in a vintage 30-save performance in a 3-1 Capitals victory. Washington’s win shaves the Penguins’ series lead to 3-2 and forces a Game 6 back in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.
Caps goaltender Braden Holtby was unhappy with his Game 4 performance, a night in which he surrendered a trio of five-hole tallies, including Patric Hornqvist’s game-winner in overtime, the goal that pushed Washington into a 3-1 series hole.
Holtby made a pair of clutch stops late in the second to preserve Washington’s two-goal advantage, and the Caps managed the game well in the final 20 minutes.
The Caps got some really big saves in the second period from Braden Holtby, said Caps right wing Justin Williams.
“You need to own the big moments, and Braden did that for sure in Game 5,” said Williams.
The Capitals’ power play supported Holtby with a pair of goals, halting a 1-for-22 slide that stretched over the previous seven games.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have had success because of the discipline in playing the game the right way, said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan on Saturday.
“And when you play a team like Washington that has a power play that’s as good as it is, you can’t give it an opportunity to be the difference,” said Sullivan.
Washington came out firing from the opening puck drop. Of the first eight shots the Caps tried in the game’s first four minutes, none were on net. Four were blocked, and another four missed the mark. The Caps were able to draw a power play during that span, and they took advantage of the opportunity to jump out to an early lead.
Eight seconds after Penguins winger Bryan Rust was seated for hooking Caps captain Alex Ovechkin, Ovechkin made him pay by blasting a one-timer past Pens goalie Matt Murray for a 1-0 Washington lead at 4:04 of the first, and scoring on the Capitals’ first shot on goal of the game.
The Caps’ start may have been somewhat erratic from the standpoint of getting pucks on net, but it had the desired effect of giving them an early lead, according to this website.
“I thought the game was outstanding,” says Caps coach Barry Trotz on Saturday.
“You just look at the start. We had some outstanding looks early in the first probably six minutes,” said Trotz. “We missed the net. After the first period, I think we had 10 misses, but they were pretty good looks. Those are starting to come for us.”
Leads have been rare and short-lived for Washington in this series, and this one was no exception. Less than two minutes after Ovechkin’s goal, Nicklas Backstrom was boxed for an offensive zone interference penalty on Pens defenseman Kris Letang.
For the first time in the game, the Pens made good on the extra-man opportunity.
Holtby stopped five Pittsburgh shots on that power play, including three from inside of 30 feet away. But Pens winger Chris Kunitz got to the rebound of Phil Kessel’s shot and deposited it behind the Caps’ goaltender to even the game at 1-1 game at 7:08 of the first period. Kunitz’s power-play goal was the Pen’s first in 15 extra-man opportunities in the series, and it ended a streak of 24 straight successful penalty killing missions for the Caps.
From the time of Backstrom’s penalty to the end of the period, the Caps managed just one more shot on net. They were outshot 12-4 in the first frame, with 6-3 at even strength, and they were out-attempted 25-21.
Early in the second frame, the Caps were able to retake the lead on another power-play goal. Caps winger Tom Wilson teased Pens defenseman Ian Cole into taking an undisciplined slashing minor, and the Caps converted just over a minute later.
John Carlson put the puck on a tee for Ovechkin, who fired a one-timer on the left dot. Murray made the stop, but winger T.J. Oshie was in the right spot to bury that rebound, restoring the Caps’ one-goal lead exactly four minutes into the middle frame.
Two seconds ahead of the midpoint of the second, the Caps cashed in on a Pens miscue to take their first two-goal lead of the contest. Jason Chimera hassled Pens defenseman Brian Dumoulin into a turnover in the Pittsburgh end; Dumoulin’s attempted clearing feed went to Justin Williams. He then threaded a puck through Murray’s legs, and it passed slowly over the goal line to give the Caps 3-1 lead at 9:58.
The Caps were unable to take advantage of another power play opportunity in the back half of the frame, and they needed Holtby to come up huge in the last minutes of the period in order to take that two-goal lead to the second intermission. Holtby brilliantly halted a Patric Hornqvist shot from in tight with his right pad with four minutes left and managed to just get a glove on Justin Schultz’s rush bid from point blank range a few seconds later.
“At that point of the game,” says Holtby, “obviously we had created a bit of offense before that and I wasn’t too happy with my Game 4 performance. I wanted to try to make a difference for our team, show that I could rebound just like us and some nights you can make those saves.”
Those saves were critical at that point of the game. If either didn’t, it would have made the Caps’ lead to just one going into the game’s final 20 minutes, and momentum is likely up for grabs as well.
With their two-goal lead intact in the final frame, the Caps did what they’ve done so well all season – manage the game, the puck and the lead effectively to the final buzzer.
“I thought in the third period we managed the game exceptionally well,” says Trotz. “I didn’t think they had too many looks, I didn’t think they had too much pressure, we kept them to the outside when they were in our zone.
“I liked the way we managed that third period. It’s a hard league to defend in. You have to manage pucks, you still have to play a 200-foot game and you still have to think about a little bit of attacking,” said Trotz. “You just can’t sit back like you used to and hook and hold your way to a victory; you can’t do that anymore. So you’ve got to skate, you’ve got to work and you’ve got to win battles and manage pucks, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”
The team didn’t want to give up, said Caps captain Alex Ovechkin.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of position we are in. We knew we have to do it. Forget it and next one is a big one, I think, with our team and with our group. We can’t stop,” said Ovechkin.
“We all got together after practice and just talked Game 4. And we just learned that we’re really, really tight,” Washington defenseman Karl Alzner said. “No one wants to be finished playing right now. And I think you’re going to see probably the best hockey that this team’s played this year.”
Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams scored for Washington, which trails the best-of-7 series 3-2 and will try to extend it again by winning Game 6 at Pittsburgh on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN).
The Capitals in Game 6 will get back defenseman Brooks Orpik from a three-game suspension levied for a hit on Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta in Game 2.
“He’s going to bring a lot to our team,” Holtby said. “But he’s also one of the guys who has instilled in us to have confidence in our team no matter who is out there. That shows the leadership he brings and we feed off that.”
Jacqui Atkielski can be contacted via email at j.atkielski@thebaynet.com
