TJ Oshie scored his third goal of the game at 9:33 in overtime to lead Washington to a 4-3 victory over the Penguins at the Verizon Center Thursday night in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
Oshie scored on a wraparound, and the goal was verified after a lengthy video review.
The Penguins have lost their past eight playoff games that extended beyond regulation.
Although the Penguins have won seven of eight previous playoff series against the Capitals, they have now lost the opener to them eight times.
The Penguins also have dropped Game 1 seven consecutive times when opening a series on the road.
One more ominous stat for the Penguins: The team winning Game 1 went on to win all eight series during the first round of this year’s playoffs.
Penguins winger Conor Sheary, who did not practice Tuesday or Wednesday, played in his usual spot with Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist.
He was shaken up early in the third period when Washington’s Tom Wilson initiated knee-on-knee contact with him in the neutral zone but stayed in the game.
Brooks Orpik, a former Penguins defenseman, returned to Washington’s lineup after missing the final three games of its opening-round series against Philadelphia because of an undisclosed injury.
The Penguins started strongly and ran up a quick 5-1 advantage in shots. Washington’s only one during that span came when Alex Ovechkin had a breakaway at 2:42, but he was unable to beat Penguins goalie Matt Murray.
The Penguins’ best scoring chance early in the game came on a Chris Kunitz shot from the slot during the first minute, but it caromed off the left post.
Capitals winger Daniel Winnik, whom the Penguins had acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline a year ago, gave Crosby a nasty two-handed slash across the legs a few shifts into the game.
Although there was no penalty on that play, both teams had a power play during the opening period.
Neither was able to score with the extra man, but Andre Burakovsky gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 10:13, when he swiped in a rebound from the right side of the crease to cap an odd-man break.
Murray had little chance of stopping Burakovsky, and those slim possibilities decreased considerably when Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin slid backward into him while trying to defend the play.
Washington had a clear edge in play for most of the period after the Penguins broke quickly from the gate, but the Penguins countered with a typically strong second period.
They tied the game at 1, at 10:40, when defenseman Ben Lovejoy punched a Nick Bonino rebound past Braden Holtby for his first in these playoffs.
Bonino made the goal possible with an excellent individual effort, as he deked past Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov near the blue line before going to the net and getting off a shot that created the rebound Lovejoy converted.
Carl Hagelin received the second assist.
Just 57 seconds later, Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead, as he whipped a backhander by Holtby from low in the right circle for his third goal of the playoffs. Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang got assists; for Kunitz, it was his first point in these playoffs.
The Penguins stayed on top for just 33 seconds, however, as Oshie pulled Washington even at 12:10.
He picked off an Olli Maatta pass near the left point in the Washington end, then carried the puck up the ice before throwing a shot by Murray on the short side.
Oshie struck again at 3:23 of the third, tossing a backhander past Murray from the inner edge of the left circle, but Bonino responded by scoring his first of the playoffs from inside the right circle at 8:42 to force overtime.