Caps Stung by Smith Goal in Double OT

Playing his first ever Stanley Cup Playoff game and his first game in 18 nights, Caps goaltender Ilya Samsonov became the third goaltender to start for Washington in as many games in the Caps' first-round series with the Boston Bruins. Samsonov was excellent in Wednesday night's Game 3 in Boston, but he and the Caps ended up on the short end of a 3-2 double-overtime decision, falling down 2-1 in the best-of-seven set.

Craig Smith's unassisted goal at 5:48 of the second extra session gave the Bruins a second consecutive overtime victory. Samsonov and Caps defenseman Justin Schultz appeared to have either a miscommunication or to be too casual with an exchange behind the Washington net. Samsonov went behind the cage to field Kevan Miller's hard-around from the red line, but Smith beat Schultz to the puck, and Samsonov was a shade slow in returning to his crease, enabling Smith to wrap the puck around the left post and in from below the goal line.
"I kind of circled back into the zone," recounts Smith. "They had a goalie set behind the net and I don't know if there was a miscommunication between the two of them - it kind of looked like it - but I just tried to jump on it and see if I could create a little bit of a turnover there, and they gave me just enough time to get in there and get it."
"It looked like one went for 'leave it,' and one went for an outlet pass, and there was just a little bit of a miscommunication," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of Smith's game-winner. "It was a tough break the way the game ended. I thought Sammy played a hell of a game for us, and it's just tough the way it ended."
The first period was penalty filled, and penalty killed. Washington had three power play chances in the first and Boston had two, and the Bruins also had 55 seconds worth of a two-man advantage. The Boston power play managed much better zone time and looks, and Samsonov had to be at his best early. He denied Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron twice from in tight on the power play in the first, the best chances for either side in the game's first 20 minutes.
Washington's own power play managed two shots on net in its six minutes with the extra man, but the two teams were 0-0 after the first frame.
Boston's lack of discipline carried into the second period, and when Brad Marchand was boxed for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Caps' extra man unit finally cashed in, with the team's second unit getting it done.

Tom Wilson hustled to keep the puck in along the left half wall, rolling it behind the Boston cage. Conor Sheary put some heat on Boston blueliner Charlie McAvoy, causing him to lose his edge as he tried to spin away with the puck. Anthony Mantha collected it and - from below the goal line - he put a perfect feed to the front for Alex Ovechkin. The Caps captain put it home for a 1-0 Washington lead at 8:21 of the second.
Washington's lead was short-lived. Boston kept a puck in at the Caps' line, and Washington's coverage went all askew. Taylor Hall got behind all five Caps skaters, and when Smith fed him, Hall was able to chip a shot over Samsonov's shoulder to make it a 1-1 game at 9:17.
Late in the middle period, Washington regained the lead on a forechecking goal from Nic Dowd. Dowd laid a big hit on Boston's Charlie Coyle along the right half-wall in the Bruins' zone, blunting the center's exit attempt and enabling Garnet Hathaway to keep it in the zone at the left point. Behind all five black-sweatered skaters on the ice, Dowd went to the net. Hathaway put it right on his tape, and Dowd redirected it past Rask for a 2-1 Washington lead at 18:15.
Eleven minutes into the third, Dowd went off for hi-sticking McAvoy behind the play, sending the Caps to a fifth penalty killing mission, the first time they've had to face as many as five shorthanded situations in a game since Feb. 20, a span of 42 games.
On the ensuing Boston power play, the Bruins evened the game again, getting the tying tally from Marchand some 32 seconds after Dowd was seated. Marchand whacked a shot home from just off the right post, seconds after missing an opportunity from the same spot.
Late in the frame, the Caps were buzzing the Boston end in a bid to go back on top, and they generated a number of excellent chances. Two of them - one off the stick of Nicklas Backstrom and the other off the blade of Wilson - rang the iron, sending the game into overtime.
In the first overtime, Boston was buzzing early while Washington had a couple of looks late, but the Bruins easily had the better of the possession battle. Samsonov had to stop a pinballing puck in the first half minute - Boston wasn't even credited with a shot on the play - and he made an aggressive cover in the second minute to stop an offensive zone shift for Boston and get a draw for the Caps.
Samsonov's best stop of the first overtime came at 13:46 after the Caps got stuck in their own end, unable to get a clear in a period with the long change. Samsonov thwarted David Pastrnak from the top of the paint at 13:46 to prolong the game.
Pastrnak had another narrow miss in the second overtime, shortly before Smith ended the game.
"We have a plan in place to try to play behind their [defense]," says Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "When we get away from it, we get into a little bit of trouble, so we'll keep sending that message.
"You don't expect to get those, but if you keep playing behind their [defense] and forcing them to break pucks out, you will get some breaks like that. [Smith] stayed on it, and good for him to have the recognition to stuff it."
After winning Game 1 of the series on Dowd's overtime goal, the Caps have dropped two straight games in which they held a one-goal lead in the third period.
"I think we did some good things tonight, obviously it was a battle," says Wilson. "It's never easy to lose one in overtime when you're out there battling, but review it, turn the page, next game is huge."