PITTSBURGH, Pa – It is hard to believe but near the end of the regular season the Pittsburgh Penguins looked like a team that was going to miss the NHL playoffs. Two of their top stars went out of the lineup and the team teetered at or near the 8th seed in the standings. After defeating the Washington Capitals 3-2 no one is even thinking this team could have been on the outside looking in.
Patric Hornqvist once again played the role of hero scoring at 2:34 of overtime with a shot that fooled Braden Holtby between the pads to steal the game and take a 3-1 series lead heading back to Washington.
“They’re a good defensive team and it’s the playoffs, it’s hard to get scoring chances,” Hornqvist said. “But when we get them, we score, and that’s part of why we win the game. … In the overtime, you need to take pucks to the net. That’s how you create momentum.”
Trevor Daley got his first goal of the playoffs and Matt Cullen scored off the center ice faceoff by coming down the wing and blowing by the defenseman to take a 2-1 lead.
Jay Beagle and John Carlson got goals for the Caps.
“This team has awesome character,” Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said. “Last year, obviously we were winning 3-1 and lost the series, so we have to take it as experience and turn it around in our way. … Overall, I think we have to play our game.” Rookie goaltender Matt Murray was once again a rock in the Penguins net and looks like he will finish the playoffs as the team’s goalie the rest of the playoffs.
“I definitely think I feel a little more and more comfortable and a little better and better the more that I play,” Murray said. “I made a couple mistakes here and there. I got lucky a couple of times, but I’m pretty happy with my game today and I thought I competed really hard.”
The Pens were without Kris Letang who was serving a one-game suspension. Both teams were scoreless on the power play and put up a combined 69 shots on net.
Sidney Crosby got his first point of the series. Game 5 is Saturday night in Washington with the top seeded Capitals on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs.
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