Down 0-2 in the series, the Washington Capitals were on the brink of another early exit. Lars Eller said not so fast in Game 3.
His overtime goal was more than just a win to squeak the Washington Capitals back in the series. It literally turned it around. The Caps followed that up with a dominating performance in Game 4 and then an overtime goal from Nicklas Backstrom in Game 5.
All of a sudden it was the Caps having all the momentum entering Game 6 in Columbus. The Caps took that momentum and squashed the Blue Jackets in their own barn for a 6-3 win.
The Caps struck first 12:12 into the game on a downtown blast from Dmitry Orlov that was assisted by Matt Niskanen and Chandler Stephenson. Those are two players we definitely miss in these parts.
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The Blue Jackets tied things up in the second period at 8:40 on a goal from Nick Foligno. That was the closest they would get. Alex Ovechkin took over the rest of the way.
If you thought his first goal came from the office, well you’re actually wrong. This was a hard-nosed goal where Ovechkin rebounded off of Sergei Bobrovsky’s blocker at 12:50. The shot came from Brooks Orpik and the secondary assist came from Christian Djoos. Wow. We miss both of them too.
Now if you guessed Ovechkin’s second goal came from the office on the power play then you’d be right. The Caps got on the attack after Seth Jones was called for holding. Ovechkin lined up in his spot on the left face-off circle and got the pass from John Carlson right past Bobrovsky. Evgeny Kuznetsov had the secondary assist. It was Ovechkin’s fifth goal of the playoffs.
The Blue Jackets got one back at 2:25 in the third period with a goal from Pierre-Luc Dubois to cut the deficit to 3-2 but Devante Smith-Pelly (D.C. misses DSP!) put the Caps back up by two goals with a great shot over Bobrovsky’s shoulder. That came at 3:56 and was Smith-Pelly’s second of the spring.
At 4:39 Djoos was whistled for interference but the Caps would score while shorthanded thanks to a breakaway from Stephenson assisted by Jay Beagle. We really miss Beags!
Foligno got one back but by then it was too little too late. Who else but Lars Eller to seal it with an empty net goal. It was Beagle’s second assist of the game.
This win set up a highly anticipated rematch with the Pittsburgh Penguins in which the third time would finally be the charm for our boys in red.