Patric Hornqvist's OT goal puts Capitals on brink of elimination
Patric Hornqvist pounced on a loose puck and beat Braden Holtby five-hole 2:34 into overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals in Game 4. The Penguins now head to D.C. on Saturday holding a 3-1 series lead.
In the overtime, Conor Sheary’s floater from the point was knocked down by Capitals defenseman Mike Weber, who was making his first appearance in the series. As Weber swiped at the puck trying to clear it to the corner he didn’t get all of it, and it went straight to Hornqvist who sent the CONSOL Energy Center crowd home happy.
Prior to Game 4, the Penguins had lost eight straight playoff overtime games.
"We have the game of our lives coming up,” Capitals forward Jay Beagle said afterward.
It started bright for Washington as they got on the board early when Beagle roofed a backhand past Matt Murray 2:38 into the game. But seven minutes later Trevor Daley would answer for Pittsburgh.
Much like the first period, the two sides matched one another in the middle frame. Matt Cullen gave the Penguins their first lead at 3:07 of the second, but it was John Carlson who evened the score with his fourth of the postseason 13 minutes later.
After Cullen hit the post midway through the third period, the Penguins had another opportunity to snap the tie when Karl Alzner was called for a high-stick on Sidney Crosby with 3:38 to go in regulation. But like they’ve done all series, the Penguins power play squandered the opportunity and failed on their 14th straight man advantage.
The Presidents' Trophy winning Capitals now have two full days off to focus on winning three straight, which would be a big feat considering the Penguins haven't lost consecutive games since January 12-15.
And again, Washington won the scoring chance battle, but once again fell short on the scoreboard.
“We didn’t have our best game,” said Hornqvist to NBCSN. “I think they were a little better than us tonight. But we [stuck] with it, didn’t turn the puck over and we got the result in the end.”
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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