Capitals come back to beat Penguins, take sole division lead

Tom Wilson called Sunday’s game “a character win” for the Washington Capitals, something the team sorely needed. They had lost a season-high four straight games, they were 2-6-1 in February and they couldn’t seem to learn from defensive breakdown after defensive breakdown.

But the Capitals snapped their losing streak Sunday, which couldn’t have come at a better time — or against a more ideal opponent.

T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal as Washington came back to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3, putting the Capitals ahead of their archrivals for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

The Capitals (38-18-6, 82 points) came back from down 2-1 to secure the much-needed win and break a standings points tie with Pittsburgh (37-18-6, 80 points). The Penguins technically were ahead entering Sunday because they have a game in hand on Washington.

The Penguins scored two goals 26 seconds apart in the second period to take their first lead, but the Capitals didn’t fold, as they might have done earlier in their slump. Former Penguin Carl Hagelin said the locker-room message in the second intermission was clear.

“I think we were just saying we’ve got to show some character,” Hagelin said. “Things haven’t gone the way we wanted. It’s time for us to show up.”

Wilson scored on a 4-on-4 breakaway early in the third to tie the game 2-2, and Hagelin punched in a Lars Eller rebound three minutes later. But Evgeni Malkin responded with a nutmeg through John Carlson’s legs to set up his own game-tying goal.

Oshie’s goal came halfway through the third period when he took a shot, then spotted the rebound amid a cluster of players and pushed it past Matt Murray.

Hagelin added an insurance empty-netter in the final minute for his first multigoal game as a Capital. Braden Holtby made 32 saves and Jakub Vrana also scored his 24th goal of the year.

Pittsburgh’s three goals aside, Washington’s blue liners had a better showing for much of the game after a recent stretch of poor performances.

“A few breakdowns that they were able to capitalize on, but for the most part I would say that was the most connected five-man game that we’ve played probably in all three zones in quite some time,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. “There’s still mistakes and we still have to get better in a number of areas, but this was a step in the right direction.”

Vrana’s tally in the first period broke his 11-game goal-scoring drought. The Czech sped ahead of Pittsburgh’s Marcus Pettersson on a breakaway, and Pettersson fell trying to block the shot. The puck bounced from Murray’s blocker to Pettersson’s sliding body and into the net.

In his first taste of the Capitals-Penguins rivalry, Washington defenseman Brenden Dillon scuffled with Malkin after the first-period buzzer and landed a few blows. It was Dillon’s third game as a Capital after being traded from San Jose last Tuesday to improve the defense.

Dillon’s new teammates thanked him by awarding him the Nationals batting helmet, their season-long tradition of honoring an MVP of the game after a win.

“These are the ones you get up for,” Dillon said. “These are the exciting ones, especially in a battle for first place right now. They’re one of the hottest teams in the league. I think it was really gut-check time for us.”

After Pittsburgh was held scoreless for more than half the game, Patric Hornqvist and Sidney Crosby found the net in a 26-second span. That’s when the Capitals bounced back with a big third-period response.

“We can feel what is going on and before anything even happens in the game, you can just feel the energy in the building,” Carlson said. “It is a lot different in a game against them against you know, any other team.”

With the secondary assist on Hagelin’s first goal, Carlson recorded his 475th career point, passing Calle Johansson for most all-time by a defenseman in Capitals history.

The team will hold a ceremony to celebrate Alex Ovechkin’s 700th goal before Tuesday’s game against the Jets.