WASHINGTON, D.C. — Take it away, Jakub Vrana: "Obviously," says the rookie who scored the goal that put the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions on the brink of elimination, "it feels f—ing good."
Yes, the kid nailed it.
And oh baby, if the Washington Capitals can get it done in Game 6—set for Monday, in Pittsburgh, against those rival Penguins—it’ll feel even better.
On Saturday, in front of a crowd that screamed "Let’s go Caps!" as loud as they’ve screamed in quite some time, Washington earned a 6-3 victory (with a pair of empty-netters) in a wide open, everybody gets chances type of game that started and ended frantically.
It was Vrana, the 22-year-old former first-round pick from Prague, who broke a 3-3 tie with fewer than five minutes to go in the third, tapping in a patient pass from captain Alex Ovechkin that made this red-clad crowd go absolutely bananas.
"O (made) a great play there," Vrana says, wearing knee-high white socks, a sweat-saturated blue long-sleeve, and shorts. "He just put it in front of the net, I was driving the net hard, try to get the rebound."
Get the rebound he did, and then Vrana skated up ice and lifted one leg up and did a sweet fist pump, before jumping and bumping chests with Ovechkin at centre, at which point linemate Evgeny Kuznetsov—who scored a beauty on a breakaway, earlier—joined in the celebration.
It was Vrana’s third point of the night, which more than doubles his previous total production in playoff games thus far (2). It marked his first career multi-point game in the post-season, and what a time for it.
The speedy kid has played on every line on this team this year, and part-way through Saturday’s Game 5, he made his way onto that top line with Kuznetsov and Ovechkin, filling the vacancy caused by Tom Wilson, who served his second of a three-game suspension.
Kuznetsov was pretty happy with his new winger. "You can see everything, probably," the centreman says. "When it’s your first time playing in the playoffs and the coach moves you onto the top line and play against top guys and you made one goal, one assist [it was actually two], I don’t have to say anything about him. He said it about himself right now."
He did. Head coach Barry Trotz says Vrana has "settled into the series," and his speed and offensive abilities were never more apparent than on Saturday, playing alongside two of the league’s best.
This game, of course, featured a whole slew of the league’s best, and it really was an offensive showcase that saw Capitals goalie Braden Holtby keep his team in this one, facing 38 shots in all. Pittsburgh scored on its first of the game, however, when Jamie Oleksiak—brother of swimming phenom, Penny—wired a one-timer from the point through traffic for his first-ever playoff goal.
But the Capitals tied things up and took the lead in the space of 33 seconds, near the end of the first period.
The first goal came on the power play, from John Carlson—he and wife Gina on Friday welcomed their second baby, a yet-to-be-named boy—who ripped one from the high slot that beat Penguins goalie Matt Murray, glove side. The crowd was still cheering when Brett Connolly’s shot deflected off Patric Hornqvist and beat Murray, five-hole, to make it 2-1.
Connolly skated over to the glass with his arms in the air, yelling, while this crowd yelled right along with him.
But the celebration of the night goes to Kuznetsov, on a play that also earned the Penguins the defensive head-scratching breakdown of the night. By this point, Crosby and Hornqvist had given Pittsburgh the 3-2 lead, only to see it evaporate.
The play began when Vrana fed a beauty breakaway pass to Kuznetsov, a pass made possible by the fact that Penguins defenders Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin were both on the left side of the ice.
"I thought Dumo was gapping up and I thought Ovi was stretching behind and I kept in to make sure he didn’t get the puck," Letang says.
Ovechkin didn’t get the puck, but smooth-skating Kuznetsov did. He made a quick fake and then slid it between Murray’s legs. What came next was arguably the highlight of the night: Kuznetsov lifted one leg in the air, and then he flapped his arms like a bird. It was gorgeous.
"I was just emotional," the 25-year-old explains. "My daughter loves that stuff. I believe she’s happy."
It’s safe to say all the Capitals are happy, right about now. And they have to be encouraged by the play of their goaltender, who was again his team’s biggest star. "He’s a big wall over there," Ovechkin says. "When he plays like that, it gives us confidence."
That’s just what these Capitals need right about now.
[snippet id=3816507]
Because as much as this win was huge for a team that hasn’t advanced past the second round since 1998, for a team that’s lost at this stage the last two years to these Penguins, the focus has already shifted to Monday.
As Vrana puts it, "I’m really happy for today, but I try to stay cool."
Then he points out that the next game is "huge." He says that twice.
It is. And, does the Pittsburgh Penguins’ mindset change at all, heading into Game 6, now one win away from their dreams of a three-peat being quashed?
"No," Murray says.
And, are the Penguins confident?
"Yep," Letang says.
That covers it. It’s onto Pittsburgh for Game 6.
[relatedlinks]
