“I know it has nothing to do with how well I play”.
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Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal and assisted on another, Braden Holtby made 30 saves and the Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1, on Saturday night in Game 5 in Washington to stay alive in the second-round series.
Braden Holtby was another source of this frustration for the Penguins, allowing no soft goals the entire game and making Pittsburgh earn every shot.
“It felt like we were going out for a pre-game skate and then all of a sudden you’re playing”, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. Their penalty kill has been near unbeatable and they have converted on 23.1 percent of their power play chances in the postseason.
The Capitals regained the lead early in the second period after Pittsburgh defenseman Ian Cole was sent to the box for slashing. Before the postseason started, General Manager Brian MacLellan said, “We’re here to win a championship; anything less than that is unsuccessful”.
On the bench, fellow Penguins were spotted patting Dumoulin on the back in reassurance, while the building continued cheering Williams’s second goal in three games.
The Washington Capitals played an nearly flawless third period with a lead as they didn’t allow much, if any at all as they were seeing out their game five victory. But Murray has shown remarkable poise in going 6-2 in these playoffs and certainly deserves another chance in Game 6, which goes Tuesday at Pittsburgh’s CONSOL Energy Center.
The Penguins said all the right things late Saturday night about how they wasted a great opportunity to eliminate the Washington Capitals in Game 5 of their Stanley Cup playoff series. Washington got its first crack at that when Alex Ovechkin plowed toward the net, drawing a hooking penalty by Bryan Rust less than four minutes into the game.
The Capitals came out of the gates with a fire lit underneath them and for good reason. “The coaching staff always discussed our lineup decisions with each respective position as far as what we want to go with and it’s no different in the goaltending position”.
Now he has his own three sons running around the Penguins dressing room after games, and they’re old enough to experience and enjoy this playoff run, too. They managed to score at least one power play goal in each game against the Rangers. He also had the big shot that rebounded off Murray and to Oshie for his power-play goal in the second period.
That is the reaction of a man who cannot believe this is happening again.
Washington’s centers have struggled as Nicklas Backstrom (2-6-8) and Evgeni Kuznetsov (1-1-2) have combined for just three goals. He also has 13 goals and 11 assists in 18 elimination games. They still can put this series away at home on Tuesday night.
But because the Pens were feeling generous, they gave the Capitals another chance to get their man-advantage back in its groove. Washington coach Barry Trotz insisted there was “a good vibe” coming from his club, pointing to the way his team tilted the ice as proof the results would come if the Capitals kept at it. With only Murray in front of him, Williams shot in the high slot, the puck dribbling through Murray’s legs and into the net, an uncharacteristic poor play by the rookie netminder.
Patric Hornqvist was great for the Penguins in games 3 and 4.
Holtby wasn’t happy with his play in Game 4 on Wednesday night and more than redeemed himself as the Penguins outshot the Capitals 31-19.
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Before the playoffs even started, Ovechkin was clear about what he thought about the accolades and honors that were bestowed on him and the team. “I had never any doubt that they weren’t going to respond”.
