The 34-year-old right wing who had struggled to produce this postseason will be leaned on again Tuesday in Game 6 as Washington tries to push the second-round series to the limit.
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After three straight losses to the Penguins, the Capitals were suddenly just one more away from another second-round playoff exit.
In the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the former UAA Seawolf has three goals, no assists, to give him three points so far.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored his sixth goal of the playoffs on a first-period breakaway and added an assist for St. Louis, giving him five points in the last two games.
(AP Photo/Nick Wass). Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, of Russian Federation, celebrates his goal during the first period of Game 5 in an NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference semifinals Pittsburgh Penguins, Saturday, May 7, 2016, in Washington.
Alex Ovechkin’s teammates watched him turn his game up to a whole new level. If the Stars can extend the series, Game 7 will be in Dallas on Wednesday night.
The Penguins are looking to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Final, while the Capitals hope to stave off elimination on home-ice when the puck drops at the Verizon Center for Game 5 of this Stanley Cup playoffs second-round series.
“He did a great job keeping us in the game, keep [ing] the two-goal lead”.
The Kings led that series 3-0, but lost Games 4 and 5 and were facing some adversity for the first time that playoff year heading into Game 6 at Staples Center.
Ovechkin looked like a man determined not to let the Capitals go quietly into the offseason. “(Captain Ryan McDonagh) threw a puck to the net and it hits one of our defensemen, goes in, and they end up winning in overtime and that sort of changed it”.
“When we have pressure, it’s our time”, Ovechkin said after turning his best game of the series, scoring once and adding an assist on the victor. We had two really good periods in overtime. “The guys responded well”.
Trotz said he split up Backstrom and Ovechkin “many” times during the regular season, but he noted that the Caps are now in a position where they have to make something happen.
With less than four minutes left in the second period, Holtby’s right pad denied a point-blank Hornqvist wrister.
Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins are involved in a scru … “Some nights you can make those saves”. One constant was that they’d struggled to get shots past Penguins goaltender Matt Murray, and the power play had looked anemic.
“I got outplayed, and that was the difference in the game”, said Murray, who stopped 104 of 109 shots in Games 2-4. Justin Williams completed the Caps scoring on an unassisted second-period marker.
Coach Mike Sullivan was noncommittal about his Game 6 starter but praised Murray’s play.
San Jose had every excuse to play a drained Game 5. Six penalties had them lamenting a missed opportunity. “You don’t want to give them too many opportunities to bring that power play on the ice”.
Desperation was new to the Washington Capitals’ locker room, the fear of summer starting early long a distant thought for a team that had the NHL’s best record throughout the regular season. That broke a 1 of 12 spell on the power play for Washington.
It’s why while head coach Barry Trotz also talks to his goalie once in a while, he leaves the heavy lifting to Korn, who was also with Trotz with the Nashville Predators and did tremendous work with Pekka Rinne.
His players are already thinking that way after fending off elimination.
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Notes: Washington had killed off 14 consecutive penalties and 37 of 38 in the playoffs before Kunitz’s goal. D Nate Schmidt returned to the Capitals’ lineup after being a healthy scratch in Game 4.
