But for all their recent struggles in DC, the Capitals, who entered the day with the league’s best road point percentage, once again showed resilience in a hostile environment. Tom Wilson scored the game-winning goal with just over eight minutes remaining, and Washington added two late goals into an empty net for a 6-3 win that put him within four points of Pittsburgh – with two games in hand – for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

“On the road, you often have to get together in a group to get there. … You play in a noisy building. It kind of felt like a playoff atmosphere. The rink was noisy. There was a lot of energy in there,” Wilson said. “Coming together and playing well is encouraging all the way because come playoff time, it’s important.

Conor Sheary misses practice as roster questions persist

Washington has won five straight on the road and improved to 22-7-5 as a visitor this season, but had to come from behind to do it on Saturday. After allowing three goals in a wild first period, goaltender Ilya Samsonov settled in all the way, and the Capitals overcame a 3-2 second-period deficit after Alex Ovechkin created the tied with a power play goal.

The action began almost immediately at PPG Paints Arena. Penguins forward Bryan Rust beat Samsonov to make it 1-0 with just 45 seconds left. Marcus Johansson responded 16 seconds later to tie the game – and Washington took a 2-1 lead later in the period when Dmitry Orlov scored on a slap shot at 85 mph. of the left circle.

But the Penguins took advantage of a shaky Capitals defense late in the first period. After Washington returned the puck to his own end, Penguins center Jeff Carter salvaged a rebound to tie the game – and less than a minute later forward Brian Boyle beat Samsonov to give a 3 lead. -2 to the Penguins.

“The response to their goal by our early goal was important. The game didn’t bother me afterwards,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “Clearly there were a few things we could have done better towards the end of the first half, so we ended up losing.”

Samsonov was brilliant early in the second to keep the deficit to one goal – “I thought [Samsonov] was at his best for the first two minutes of the second,” Laviolette said – and Washington got a five-on-three power play later in the period after Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin and Carter all went to the penalty box.

Ovechkin made his rivals pay, missing a single slap shot from the left circle to tie the game at 3. Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry was the 158th goalkeeper Ovechkin has scored against in his career – he had previously failed to find the net against him in eight games – and gave Ovechkin his 44th goal of the season.

After breaking free for a two-on-one, Wilson scored behind Jarry’s glove with 8:25 left. Pittsburgh had one last chance with a power play in the final two minutes, but Evgeny Kuznetsov added confidence with an empty-net goal with 1:41 left, and Martin Fehevary added another in the final minute.

“The environment was good today. You could tell getting on the bench in the first period felt like the playoffs,” Laviolette said. “Our guys were ready.

Here’s what else to know about the Capitals’ win:

Laviolette indicated this month that he wanted one of his two young goaltenders to become the best option ahead of the playoffs, and Laviolette gave Samsonov his second straight start on Saturday against Vitek Vanecek, who didn’t won only once in his last five starts. Samsonov responded with his 50th career win, becoming only the 10th goaltender in franchise history to achieve that record. After allowing three goals in the first period, he finished with 29 saves on 32 shots.

“[Samsonov] has so many natural skills and talents, but you really like it when you see a teammate grind,” Wilson said. “In the second and third period, you just saw him fight. He was really comfortable there.

Capitals forward Conor Sheary missed Saturday’s game against his former team with an illness unrelated to the coronavirus. Laviolette continued to tinker with his lineups with Sheary out. Garnet Hathaway, who missed Wednesday’s win over the Tampa Bay Lightning due to illness, returned and played on the first line Saturday. Rookie Connor McMichael played as a third line center, while Lars Eller, a natural center, again played left wing on the fourth line.

Marcus Johansson had felt at home for weeks after joining Washington at the trade deadline – he had previously played for the Capitals from 2010 to 2017 – but he was still looking for a breakthrough with his first goal when he returned to the franchise. . He came just 61 seconds into Saturday’s game. He scored an unassisted goal to tie the game just 16 seconds after Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead.

“It’s always nice to have the first one. It’s always fun to be part of the scorers and all that, but as long as we’re winning, I don’t care,” Johansson said. “It’s fun to get it. But more importantly, we got the win.