PITTSBURGH (AP) – Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored 3:13 into overtime and the Washington Capitals overcame a late collapse in regulation to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Monday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
It was a badly needed victory for Washington, winners of the President’s Trophy for the National Hockey League’s best regular season record.
Washington drew within 2-1 in the series when Shattenkirk’s shot from the point zipped by Marc-Andre Fleury’s blocker.
Washington appeared to be in control thanks to goals by Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetzov. The lead vanished in the final two minutes of the third when Evgeni Malkin and Justin Schultz scored in a 48-second span to force overtime.
In a postgame interview, Shattenkirk said that the Capitals collected themselves during the intermission. “We took a deep breath,” he said. “I thought we came out really well in the overtime.”
Shattenkirk said the Caps are determined to “change that script” of falling short in the playoffs.
Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby left just over 5 minutes into the game and did not return after getting cross-checked to the head by Washington’s Matt Niskanen.
The Penguins were in Washington’s end of the ice when Niskanen crosschecked Crosby across the face with his stick. Crosby was skating by Washington goaltender Braden Holtby when he turned and faced Niskanen.
Niskanen raised his stick and hit Crosby flush. Crosby was on the ice in obvious pain for several minutes before exiting slowly under his own power.
Niskanen was given a five-minute major penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct.
Crosby entered the game tied for second in scoring for Pittsburgh with 11 points, including two goals in Pittsburgh’s Game 1 victory over Washington. His status for game 4 is uncertain.
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