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Washington Capitals Blow Three-Goal Lead, Fall to Pittsburgh in Epic Overtime Battle
The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins had an epic battle Monday night.
After a first period that saw the Washington Capitals go up 2-0 on the scoreboard, things got completely wild. The Capitals and Penguins went to overtime and combined for a total of 15 goals.
In the end, Pittsburgh outlasted the Capitals in overtime and completed the comeback with an 8-7 victory.
Andre Burakovsky got things started for the Caps seven minutes into the game. Nicklas Backstrom extended his point streak to seven games when he scored Washington’s second goal of the night.
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Appearing to be in the driver’s seat, Washington added an insurance goal a minute into the second period when Justin Williams beat Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray.
However, that’s when the entire game changed.
It started with a hard hit from Patric Hornqvist on T.J. Oshie that could have been called a penalty, but wasn’t. On the next face-off, Pittsburgh got on the board.
Evgeni Malkin started things off, scoring the first of three goals the Penguins scored in about a two-minute span.
Once the game was tied, Pittsburgh continued to pour it on with goals by Bryan Rust and another one by Malkin. The fifth goal chased goalie Braden Holtby from the net in favor of Philipp Grubauer.
With Pittsburgh up 5-3 in the second period, things continued to get crazy. Washington answered the Penguins with two more goals by Brett Connolly and Lars Eller.
Malkin wasn’t done and added his third goal of the period for a hat trick.
Pittsburgh added to its lead in the third quarter when Sidney Crosby scored after a hard hit on Karl Alzner that freed the puck.
Down by two again, the Capitals didn’t quit. T.J. Oshie connected on a power play on a rebound of a shot by Alexander Ovechkin. Lars Eller struck again about five minutes later to tie the game.
Three periods were not enough to settle the epic battle though.
Unfortunately, the Caps ended up on the wrong end of the stick during the extra frame. Conor Sheary scored just 34 seconds into the overtime. There was yet another questionable missed call on the play when Sidney Crosby tripped Ovechkin. Crosby also stood close to Holtby and nearly interfered on the game-winning goal.
The stats from this game are mind-blowing. 15 goals obviously lead to some big individual numbers.
Ovechkin, Oshie, Nickanen, Eller, and Burakovsky all had multiple points for the Capitals. Pittsburgh got a combined six points from Crosby and Malkin.
While the loss was a disappointing one, especially since it ended Washington’s win streak, but the fact remains that the Caps picked up a point and still lead the Eastern Conference.
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Washington will get a much-need break for two days before taking the ice in St. Louis Thursday night.
