Five Years Ago Today…Round 2, Game 5

As unbelievable as it may seem, we are fast approaching the five-year anniversary of the Capitals’ Stanley Cup win. To celebrate, over the next two months we’re going to be taking you on a journey back in time to that magical run – reliving every game, five years to the day from when it was first played.

So strap in for the ups and downs, highs and lows, all leading up to a celebration of the greatest moment in franchise history.

Follow along with all of our “Five Years Ago Today…” recaps here.

The Series:

Eastern Conference Round 2 – Capitals (1) vs. Penguins (2); Series tied 2-2

The Setting:

May 5, 2018 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC

Game in a Nutshell:

Four games down. Each team with one win at home, one win on the road. And a pivotal Game 5 back in DC to see which of the two teams would push the other to the brink of elimination.

The Caps started the game by giving everyone a heart attack. Their favorite pastime, really.

Thank goodness for the post (and that it was Riley Sheahan and not someone, y’know, scary).

Unfortunately, about a minute later, someone even less scary got the puck and actually did score, when Jamie Oleksiak of all people fired a shot from the point, using the mighty screen of Conor Sheary to block Braden Holtby’s view and give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

The Pens held on to that slimmest of leads until the end of the first period, when the Caps did several things in quick succession:

1. Drew a penalty on Dominik Simon, who was sent to the box for tripping Matt Niskanen

2. Got the puck to John Carlson, who walked it along the blue line into perfect shooting position for his absolute rocket of a shot to tie the game (tapping into his dad strength, having welcomed baby #2 the night before).

3. 33 seconds later, pull ahead 2-1 ahead thanks to an excellent puck battle victory by Jakub Vrana, a shot from the slot by Brett Connolly, and Matt Murray’s five hole not being quite as secure as he probably wanted it to be.

Alas, the Capitals weren’t the only ones capable of quick strikes – those pesky Penguins had a little power play one-two punch up their sleeves in the second period, first with Sidney Crosby taking advantage of an Alex Ovechkin penalty to knot the game up again at two, and then Patric Hornqvist dragging them into the lead with Devante Smith-Pelly sitting for two just a few minutes later.

The Caps headed to the locker room after two periods down 3-2, having surrendered two power-play goals and 18 shots on net while managing to put just five of their own on Murray.

Things were not looking good…it was time for a hero.

Enter Evgeny Kuznetsov.

About 45 seconds into the third period, Matt Niskanen started the breakout from behind the Capitals’ net. He found Jakub Vrana along the right side of the defensive zone, who moved the puck quickly up to Kuznetsov. Taking advantage of a sloppy change by the Pens, he then slipped by three defenders, broke in alone on goal, and tucked the puck through Murray’s pads.

The eagle soars, bad period erased, score tied at three, and we’ve got ourselves a whole new ballgame.

The Penguins would pull Murray for the extra attacker with just under two minutes remaining, and it was butt-clenching time for everyone – that is, until first T.J. Oshie, then Lars Eller, took advantage of the Pens’ empty net to lock in the win and put the Caps one win away from moving on. Who’da thunk it?

Of course, nothing was over yet. Being up 3-2 in a best-of-seven series is certainly an enviable position, but the Caps would still have a tough hill to climb ahead of them if they wanted to wrap up the series with Pittsburgh.

After blocking a shot with his hand in the first period, Nicklas Backstrom was limited to just three faceoffs for the game and his status for Game 6 was suddenly in question. John Carlson, too, was questionable after taking a high hit from Jake Guentzel. The team was still without Tom Wilson, who would be serving out the final game of his suspension.

And they’d be headed into a tough enemy barn with the weight of history on their shoulders. Could they get the job done and advance to the Conference Final for the first time since 1998?

We’d have to wait a little longer to find out…

Condensed Game:

Defining Moment:

They Said It:

“I don’t know if I could tell you exactly what it would mean [to make the Eastern Conference Final]. None of us have ever been there. We’re just looking to get the job done and maybe after we can talk about the feelings. But right now, we’ve still got a lot of work to do.” – T.J. Oshie

Additional Reading:

• Caps Author Comeback in Third for 6-3 Win in Game 5 [Caps]
• #CapsPens Postgame Notebook: Comeback Caps [Caps]
• Capitals rally past Penguins in Game 5, take lead in series [NHL]
• Penguins-Capitals Game 5: Washington wins, 6-3, and Caps have two chances to clinch series [WaPo]
• ‘The goalie is everything for us’: Caps’ Game 5 triumph started and ended with Braden Holtby [WaPo]
• The Capitals better win this series in six games [WaPo]