But wasn’t this the kind of game that was especially built for the Capitals?
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Weber, back in the lineup for the first time since the Flyers opening-round series, was trying to get the puck out when it flew directly to Hornqvist in the right circle for his fifth goal of the playoffs and first playoff overtime victor.
“That’s a big win”, Hornqvist said. “Now we have to stick with it. We haven’t done anything yet”.
They will try to become the 29th team (out of 290) to win a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series after trailing 3-1.
Two years ago, the Penguins blew a 3-1 series lead against the Rangers in a second-round series.
“I think obviously our last game wasn’t good at all”, forward Patric Hornqvist said.
Pittsburgh won despite playing without top defenceman Kris Letang, who was serving a one-game suspension for his hit on Marcus Johansson in Game 3.
The suspension forced Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan to return Justin Schultz to the lineup.
Crosby returned a few minutes later and drew a Karl Alzner high-sticking penalty at 16:22, but the Penguins didn’t manage a shot during the Capitals’ 23rd consecutive penalty kill. It’s no secret that late in playoff games refs tend to generally let more slide as to not want to influence the result of a close game The Pens will probably get power play opportunities early in the game, and that will be crucial to get on the board.
Letang has played the majority of this series, approximately 24 minutes at even strength, facing the trio of Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. “I thought the group of them did a tremendous job”.
The difference in the game was rookie goaltender Matt Murray who continues to start and shine at goalie while his mentor, Marc-Andre Fleury rides the bench and can only watch his young counterpart succeed. He also notched an assist on Trevor Daley’s first-period tally.
The 21 year old net minder continued to make timely saves to give the Penguins a chance to win the game.
About an hour before faceoff Wednesday night, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Eric Fehr walked down a hallway at Consol Energy Center wearing a crisp gray suit and a dour look on his face. Weber then nudged it across the slot to an awaiting Hornqvist.
Sidney Crosby, charging hard to the net, provided the screen, also landing an assist on the play.
“I have to get over there quicker than I did”, Holtby said. True, Pittsburgh would concede home-ice, but Pittsburgh is 3-1-1 this season in DC, so it’s not as if they are incapable of winning on the road in this situation.
Each of the four games in the series has been decided by one goal, including two in overtime.
“We had some adversity that we were facing here tonight”, center Matt Cullen said. “Hopefully the bounces will go our way sooner or later”. Orpik was suspended for three games, which was followed by controversial comments from head coach Barry Trotz and a ton of attention around the topic.
Murray stopped 47 shots in a 3-2 victory in Game 3 on Monday, keeping his head – not to mention his well-padded arms and legs – during three periods of duress in which the Capitals appeared to put an invisible fence at the Pittsburgh blue line, hemming the Penguins in their end for 60 minutes of hockey that appeared one-sided everywhere but the scoreboard. The shot sailed over Murray’s shoulders and into the far top corner.
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Washington started off the scoring in the first period on Jay Beagle’s second goal of the playoffs at 2:58.
