Capitals rebound against Penguins in Game 2

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals had been in this position before, so they understood the urgency of their situation heading into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.
After blowing a two-goal lead in Game 1, a 3-2 loss, the Capitals were desperate not to fall behind 0-2 in the best-of-7 series. In the first round against Columbus Blue Jackets, the Capitals lost the first two games before winning four straight, but doing it against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions would be a tall order.

So, the Capitals did what they had to, jumping out to three-goal lead at 2:08 in the second period before holding off a Pittsburgh comeback attempt to win 4-1 at Capital One Arena.
WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Capitals Game 2 highlights | Complete series coverage]
Game 3 is at Pittsburgh Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS2).
"It's way better than being down 2-0," Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom said. "Even if we were down 2-0 to Columbus, Pittsburgh is a different team. They've got some power up front. It's better to have a tied series. It will be good to go on the road."
Washington went 3-0 on the road against Columbus and won two of the three games in Pittsburgh in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season (the Penguins won the series in seven games), but winning at home has been a different story.
The Capitals had lost the first two games at home in each of their previous two playoff series, and before winning Sunday were 4-7 on home ice over the past two postseasons.
They appeared on their way to victory in Game 1 on Thursday after Alex Ovechkin scored on a 2-on-1 to give them a 2-0 lead 28 seconds into the third period. However, the Penguins responded with three goals in a 4:49 span for a 3-2 win that Capitals coach Barry Trotz called, "a kick in the stomach."

Washington has some experience with this in the playoffs, though. It also let 2-0 leads slip away before losing in overtime in each of its first two games at home against Columbus, so Trotz was confident the Capitals would be able to shake off the loss on Thursday in similar fashion.
"This group has done that all year," Trotz said. "So [with] the commitment level, the leadership that we do have, the buy-in, I wasn't surprised. I knew that this group is like that. They will bounce back, and they will show what they need to do, and they did."
Ovechkin got the Capitals off to another fast start, scoring on a wrist shot glove side on Penguins goaltender Matt Murray 1:26 into the game. The Capitals grabbed the lead 17 seconds into Game 1, but despite having numerous scoring chances, weren't able to add to their lead until the third period.
That wasn't the case in Game 2.
Jakub Vrana scored short side from in front on a power play to extend the lead to 2-0 at 14:54 in the first period before Brett Connolly made it 3-0 on a breakaway at 2:08 in the second period.

"Game 1, it was tough," Connolly said. "We played a really good game and they just kind of found a way to get some breaks and score some timely goals. I think we learned from that this time around. We weren't as loose. I think we were a little more solid as the game went on."
Not that the Penguins didn't make the Capitals sweat at times. After Connolly's goal, they outshot the Capitals 16-5 over the remainder of the second period and defenseman Kris Letang cut the lead to 3-1 with a shot from the right point past a screened Braden Holtby at 13:04.
It looked like it could be a one-goal game when Patric Hornqvist tried to jam in a pass from Sidney Crosby at the right post at 9:03 of the third period, but it was ruled no goal on the ice, and the call was confirmed after a video review.
"It's just the way it is," said Backstrom, who scored an empty-net goal with 6.1 seconds left to make it 4-1. "Sometimes [the review] goes against you. Sometimes it doesn't. We got lucky there and got a break. I thought we were able to shut them down after that."

The Capitals will head to Pittsburgh feeling a little fortunate but also like they could be up 2-0. With Penguins center Evgeni Malkin potentially returning for Game 3 after missing the first two games with a lower-body injury, the challenge of knocking off the defending champions won't get easier.
But the Capitals weren't expecting it to be easy.
"They're an experienced team," Ovechkin said. "They're not going to give up and they're not going give easy play for us. We have to earn it. Today, I think we played a solid game. Everybody was in and we got the result."