Burakovsky at the double as Caps down Penguins to tie series

pulse

May 9, 2017 2:36 AM

The series will now be settled in a decisive Game 7 in Washington on Wednesday.

Andre Burakovsky (L) celebrates scoring against the Pittsburgh Penguins as the Washington Capitals win 5-2

Andre Burakovsky scored twice as the Washington Capitals thrashed the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 to level their Eastern Conference semi-final series on Monday.

T.J. Oshie opened the scoring in the first period before Burakovsky grabbed his first of the night in the second period to give the Caps a deserved 2-0 lead at Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena.

Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson and Burakovsky all struck in quick succession to fire Washington into a commanding 5-0 lead in the third period to all but guarantee victory.

Two late goals from Jake Guentzel and Evegeni Malkin were mere consolation for the Penguins, who at one stage had led the best-of-seven series 3-1.

"Since Game 3, we've had a calmness about what we're doing. We're having fun now," said Capitals coach Barry Trotz.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan offered no excuses after the defending champions fluffed another chance to wrap up the series.

"It's frustrating," Sullivan said. "You've got an opportunity to win a game like this and win a series at home. To a man, we weren't good enough."

The Capitals attacking dominance was backed by a solid display in goal by Braden Holtby who made 16 saves. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was given a torrid time, blocking 21 of 26 shots.

Pittsburgh struggled to generate any early fluency and their first shot on goal didn't arrive until 12:17 of the first period, a long clear by Brian Dumoulin.

Washington opened the scoring on the same power play, when Backstrom released Evgeny Kuznetsov who set up Oshie for a 1-0 lead.

Fleury kept Pittsburgh in touch with several key saves, including a superb block from Alex Ovechkin in the left circle.

The Penguins were also given a scare when Sidney Crosby, in only his second game back from a concussion, suffered a bloody nose from a team-mate's stick.

The Canadian star was also sent crashing into the boards during a Penguins power play.

Washington's early pressure was rewarded when Burakovsky doubled the lead at 6:36 of the second after forcing a turnover by Ron Hainsey.

The game was settled with a flurry of scoring in the third, with Backstrom beating Fleury for 3-0 before Carlson added a power-play goal to make it 4-0 at 11:17 of the third. Burakovsky then rifled a shot past Fleury at 12:29 for 5-0.

Caps goalscorer Oshie believes momentum is now firmly with Washington heading into the decider.

"It gives us a little bit more confidence," Oshie said. "We have to be pretty mature about this, though. We know it's not going to be the exact same story. They're not just going to go away.

"They're Stanley Cup champions for a reason. We'll regroup. We're going to enjoy this. It was a fun one tonight for us, but we definitely have to regroup and get refocused on the start for Game 7."

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