Alex Ovechkin’s teammates watched him turn his game up to a whole new level. Then the Washington Capitals followed him all the way to Game 6.
With Ovechkin leading the way, the Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 on Saturday night in Game 5 to keep their season alive. Ovechkin scored a power-play goal and assisted on T.J. Oshie’s and was a force all over the ice with his team on the verge of yet another early playoff exit.
“He’s our leader. We look up to him,” Oshie said. “When you see a guy like him that can beat you in so many different ways come out and bring that type of energy, you’d better get on board or just stay on the bench.”
Behind Ovechkin’s two-point game, goals by Oshie and Justin Williams and 30 saves by Braden Holtby, Washington cut its deficit to 3-2 to force Game 6 tomorrow night in Pittsburgh.
Ovechkin looked like a man determined not to let the Capitals go quietly into the offseason. Washington’s captain was quietly confident and said the belief never wavered inside the locker room.
“We didn’t want to give up,” Ovechkin said. “When we have pressure, it’s kind of our time. The guys responded well.”
Ovechkin keyed that response, scoring 4 minutes, 4 seconds in to snap the Capitals out of a power-play drought that had threatened to cost them the series.
Turning in a brilliant performance worthy of his status as a Vezina Trophy finalist, Holtby was stellar and at his best when he stopped three in less than a minute on Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist and Justin Schultz.
In San Jose, Joe Pavelski scored two goals and the Sharks used some reconfigured lines to bounce back from the tough loss and beat Nashville 5-1 for a 3-2 series lead.
“We felt after that last game we played a couple really good periods, some of our better periods of the playoffs,” said Pavelski, whose apparent goal in the first overtime in Game 4 was waved off for goaltender interference.
“We had to carry that. It was up to us to really get that momentum back. Guys did a good job coming out,” he said.
Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture also scored as part of San Jose’s new second line as the Sharks moved within one win of advancing to the Western Conference final for the fourth time in franchise history.
San Jose will look to secure a spot in their first conference final since 2011 by winning at Nashville in Game 6 tonight.
Melker Karlsson added a late goal and Martin Jones made 24 saves to give the home team their fifth straight win in this series.
Game 4 overtime hero Mike Fisher scored and Pekka Rinne made 23 saves, but Nashville could not recover after allowing goals in the opening and closing minutes of the second period.
In Dallas, Rookie playoff points leader Robby Fabbri had a goal and an assist, while Brian Elliott turned away a strong Dallas push in the third period as St Louis beat the Stars 4-1 for a 3-2 series lead.
Dmitrij Jaskin’s first career playoff goal put the Blues ahead for good at 2-1 in the second period, and St Louis protected a 3-1 lead in the third for a second straight road victory. The Blues surrendered the same lead before winning in overtime in Game 2 in Dallas.
Elliott had 27 saves to give the Blues a chance to wrap up the series at home tonight.
Troy Brouwer and Paul Stastny also scored for the Blues. Alex Goligoski scored for Dallas.
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