Ovechkin takes page from Crosby, helps Capitals top Penguins in Game 3

PITTSBURGH -- Looking back on it, Alex Ovechkin realized it was fortunate that he didn't celebrate. At least not initially.
Like most of his Washington Capitals teammates and coach Barry Trotz, Ovechkin thought the puck was going into the net after he chipped a 2-on-1 pass from Nicklas Backstrom over Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray's glove. But the puck hit the right post and was floating tantalizingly in front of Ovechkin while he drifted across the front of the goalmouth.
Ovechkin calmly swatted at it with his stick and batted it into the net with 1:07 remaining in the third period, giving the Capitals a 4-3 victory against the Penguins in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

"It's a good thing I didn't raise my arms up," Ovechkin said. "I finished up the play and got lucky."
RELATED: [Ovechkin's goal lifts Capitals to Game 3 win | Complete Capitals vs. Penguins series coverage]
There was some luck involved, but also a lot of skill.
Penguins fans have gotten used to seeing Sidney Crosby score this kind of goal, batting and tipping pucks out of mid-air with a dexterity few in the NHL can match. Ovechkin took a page out of Crosby's book on Tuesday, in Crosby's house, to give the Capitals a hard-fought victory and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.

"It was a world-class goal," Trotz said. "Originally, I thought it went directly in and then I saw the replay. He got it out of the air. Great hands. That's why he's scored so many goals."
It was Ovechkin's eighth goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, tying him with Crosby, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel and Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets for the NHL lead.
It also was one of the biggest of Ovechkin's NHL career. It's been well-documented that he and the Capitals have never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs during his 13 seasons.
This got them a step closer.
"It's a huge, huge goal," Ovechkin said. "Obviously for our team, you know we want to win tonight and we did. It doesn't matter what, it doesn't matter who scored. We sacrifice, we play hard and we have to do the same moving forward."
The Capitals need two more wins to knock off the Penguins. They know the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions won't make it easy; Washington has been eliminated by Pittsburgh in the second round in each of the past two seasons.
The Capitals fell behind 3-1 in each of those series and could not recover. This time, they have a 2-1 series lead and hope to build on it in Game 4 here on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS).
Washington is 4-0 on the road in the playoffs and 8-2 over the past two postseasons, including 3-1 in Pittsburgh.

"If you want to be successful in the playoffs, you've got to win on the road, especially because they won [Game 1 in Washington]," Backstrom said. "It's nicer to be up 2-1 than being down 2-1. We're just excited for the next game."
Game 3 was a test of fortitude for the Capitals. They took a 1-0 lead on John Carlson's power-play goal 48 seconds into the second period, but had to battle back from 2-1 and 3-2.
Defenseman Matt Niskanen's goal 5:06 into the third period, which came on a left point shot that went in off Murray's glove, tied the game 3-3. It gave the Capitals life, and they outshot the Penguins 10-3 in the third period.
But they had to survive some frantic moments, including an extended stretch in their end preceding Ovechkin's winning goal. The Capitals were trapped in their zone for nearly a minute, but did not allow a shot to get through to goaltender Braden Holtby.
Then, Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta sent the puck toward the slot from the right point. Backstrom intercepted and started the 2-on-1 in the other direction.
After such a long shift, the odd-man rush seemed to take place in slow motion. Backstrom carried over the Penguins blue line on the left wing with Ovechkin on his right and Kris Letang the lone defender back.
Ovechkin and Backstrom don't play together as much 5-on-5 anymore since Kuznetsov took over as Ovechkin's regular center earlier this season. But the chemistry they've developed over the past 11 seasons remains; Backstrom has assisted on 230 of Ovechkin's 607 regular-season goals in the NHL and 20 of his 54 playoff goals. So it was no surprise they finished off the rush.

"They've scored a lot of goals together," Trotz said. "They're pretty dynamic over a number of a years. I had a good feeling."
After Letang dove to try to block the passing lane, Backstrom slid the puck around Letang's outstretched stick to Ovechkin, who was driving to the right post. With his second effort, Ovechkin put the puck in the net.
"Usually he's flying there when he knows it's a 2-on-1 or a breakaway," Backstrom said. "I knew it was him. He did a great job sticking with it. I think he hit the post and then hacked it in. Huge win. We'll take it."