Pittsburgh 4 – Washington 3 OT
Evgeni Malkin scored three minutes and twenty eight seconds into overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 Saturday night at the Verizon Center to take a 3-2 series lead. Pittsburgh will have the opportunity to close out the series Monday night at Mellon Arena as the team returns home for Game 6.
Pittsburgh got a strong performance from their third line as Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke each found the back of the net. Staal, Kennedy and Cooke were a combined +5 and Matt Cooke scored his first playoff goal in 21 games.
Facing a 2-1 deficit going into the third period, Ruslan Fedotenko and Matt Cooke added third period goals to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead mid-way through the third.
Alexander Ovechkin forced overtime scoring his 10th goal of the playoffs at 15:52 of the third period. Ovechkin rebounded from two subpar games in Pittsburgh, scoring two goals on the night and carried the Capitals offensively.
Penguins goaltender Marc Andre Fleury made 28 saves to record his 7th victory of the post-season. Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar (right knee) did not play after going into the game as a game time decision.
He was replaced in the lineup by Alex Goligoski and Philippe Boucher as the Penguins dressed seven defensemen. Forwards Pascal Dupuis, Petr Sykora and Eric Godard were also scratched.
The Penguins outshot the Capitals 42-31 and improved to 8-0 all-time in playoff Game 5’s against the Capitals
Game 6 is Monday
