PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – For those who watched the NFL Draft, you missed a hell of a hockey game in Washington. After a Pens defensive mistake late allowed the Caps to tie it with 14 seconds left. The Pens won it on a Jake Guentzel overtime goal, 5-4 in Washington.
Guentzel took a nice pass from John Marino, redirected it into the net as the Pens tie the Caps for first in the MassMutual Division.
"It's never good when you give up a goal in the last few seconds," Guentzel said. "Heads up play by McCann in the corner to find Marino in the slot. Then a really nice play from Marino to find me on the back door. Really good play by those two, I was just on the end of it to be pretty lucky there."
Pens also clinched a playoff spot.
"We are going to enjoy this one tonight," said Pens head coach Mike Sullivan. "These guys have competed extremely hard to earn the privilege to compete for the Stanley Cup in the playoffs. It's a hard league and it's not easy to make the playoffs."
"We understand there is a lot of work to do here, but we are going take a deep breath tonight and enjoy it."
"It's the first step in the process," Guentzel said. "We weren't sure what was going to happen with everything going on. We just stuck to our plan. Now the fun will start here pretty soon."
"A lot of hard work this season," said forward Kasperi Kapanen. "It feels good it's starting to pay off. We have a lot to play for, the last five games will be crucial."
Pens looked to have the win in regulation until Washington's Tom Wilson was left alone in front of the net late in the third and he put it by Tristan Jarry to tie it at 4.
"I think these guys have done a terrific job all year long at defending leads," Sullivan said. "Give them credit. They worked hard at it. They score. We can certainly be better as a group in that aspect of the game."
"What I liked about it was the response. We didn't let it get us down. We stayed with it. We were able to get a big goal in overtime."
Kapanen gave the Pens the lead with his second goal of the night midway through the third.
"McCann and Carter were doing really good work in our defensive zone," Kapanen said. "I saw McCann got the puck and threw it behind me off the boards. I tried to use my speed and shot it on net and it went in."
Kapanen had the opening tally after stealing the puck from Nicklas Backstrom in the Washington zone, settling it down and scoring.
"Kap had a strong game for us," Sullivan said. "He has such a great shot. He's a good goal scorer. I think his speed is so dangerous. He backs defenses off with his speed and usually that creates opportunities for himself or his linemates. I thought he had a real strong game tonight."
Frederick Gaudreau returned for his first game back from injury to get a pass from Jason Zucker, through traffic, just a little behind him as he was skating to the net and scored to give the Pens a 2-1 lead.
"It was such a crazy game," Gaudreau said. "Two good teams take it to the end. We were all excited about it."
Caps defenseman Justin Schultz with his second assist of the night off another faceoff win deflected off the stick of Daniel Sprong and past Tristan Jarry to give Washington it's last lead at 3-2. Sprong on the top line filling in for Alex Ovechkin. The former Pens second round pick with his fourth goal in three games.
Zach Aston-Reese created a lose puck in the Caps zone getting it away from Schultz, helped dig it out of the corner and Colton Sceviour forced a turnover, back to Aston-Reese. He goes forehand, backhand and 5-hole goal to tie it at three after two.
Rodrigues injury
Forward Evan Rodrigues hit in the foot/ankle by a shot from Mike Matheson in the first period. Rodrigues had to be helped off the ice by Matheson and Zucker. He couldn't put weight on his left leg. No update as Rodrigues is being evaluated.
Russian absence
Strange to see Pens-Capitals without the top two picks of the 2004 NHL Draft, both Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin missed due to injury. A first ever for Ovechkin against the Pens, where in 65 career games he has 36 goals and 28 assists.
Malkin is close to returning, cleared for contact and is on the road trip. Malkin out since March 16, had points in eight straight games before getting hurt against Boston.
Up Next
Pens continue in Washington Saturday night at 7p
