After a hard-fought overtime win Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins eliminated the Washington Capitals and advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
The Washington Capitals have once again capitulated, despite a valiant effort that erased a 3-0 deficit and forced the Penguins to the brink in overtime to turn what appeared to be a complete no-show by the visitors into a nail-biter that went down to the wire. Phil Kessel potted his fourth and fifth of the playoffs to put the home side up by a pair before Carl Hagelin tipped an Olli Maata powerplay point shot to leave the bewildered Capitals in dire straits and down by three.
Series Review: Penguins Eliminate Capitals
T.J. Oshie brought the Caps within two to end the second frame, while his teammates Justin Williams and John Carlson knotted it up to send the game into overtime in the final twenty minutes of regulation time.
The Kessel-Hagelin-Bonino trifecta struck at 6:32 of overtime to put it away with centre Nick Bonino burying the biscuit to send the visitors packing.
This was supposed to be the year that Alex Ovechkin and company exorcised their demons and put it all together. So what went wrong? Head coach Barry Trotz made an astute adjustment after game four to spread the workload more equitably, relying less on his big guns to get it done. He was rewarded accordingly with T.J. Oshie, Jay Beagle, Marcus Johansson and Justin Williams all answering the bell, however, the Penguins proved to be more ready right out of the gate and it was that killer instinct that Pittsburgh’s second line demonstrated which led to Washington’s season coming to a sudden, unceremonious halt.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan did a masterful job of spreading the offense throughout his lineup across the series, which could have gone either way, however, on this particular night, with the series hanging in the balance, the Caps couldn’t get it going until 18:30 of the second period.
While the shot totals were fairly balanced throughout the game (42-39 PITT), the Pens fired seven shots at Braden Holtby to Washington’s three during overtime, demonstrating a level of urgency that the Caps just couldn’t match. Ovechkin appeared to have the game on his stick in overtime, however, he whiffed once again from point blank and it wasn’t long before Pittsburgh sent the play back the other way to end both the game, and the Caps’ season.
Rookie goalie Matt Murray was a standout throughout the series, and it was a veteran move by Mike Sullivan to stick with the youngster despite veteran net minder Marc-Andre Fleury being ready enough to jump in after a lengthy convalescence.
That’s playoff hockey, in a nutshell. While opponents may be pitted against each other across a period of weeks, it can all be decided in a matter of moments. It’s a war of wills as much as it is a battle of skill. The Penguins managed to stick to their structure, contain their emotions and avoid getting rattled by a tough, physical opponent, and it was for these reasons, my series preview had Pittsburgh winning it in six games.
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