Penguins/NHL
Washington 5 – Pittsburgh 4 OT
David Steckel scored 6:22 into overtime, redirecting a Brooks Laich shot past goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury into the net and the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 Monday night to force a game 7 in Washington.
Washington which had lost the previous two overtimes of the series, had leads of 2-1 and 4-3 but could not hold on in regulation as Sidney Crosby scored at 15:52 of the third period to tie the game at 4-4 and force overtime.
Momentum turned to Pittsburgh after Crosby’s late goal as the Penguins were awarded a 5-on-4 power play with 2:03 remaining in the third period.
After a number of chances, the Penguins were not able to convert as Simeon Varlamov made key saves to stave off elimination.
Varlamov made 38 saves and the Capitals were outshot 42-24 on the night. While Varlamov stood tall in the net, secondary scoring was the key for the Capitals to force a game 7 and they got it tonight.
Role players Tomas Fleischmann and David Steckel each scored and the Capitals got a big night from Viktor Kozlov (2 goals) and Alexander Semin who scored his first goal of the series.
Bill Guerin (4), Mark Eaton (4), Kris Letang (2) and Sidney Crosby (10) all scored for the Penguins. Marc Andre Fleury made 19 saves on 24 shots.
Game 7 is Wednesday night in Washington at the Verizon Center
