Orlov Lifts Caps in Overtime, 4-3

Dmitry Orlov's second goal of the game gave the Caps a 4-3 overtime victory over the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. The improbable win came after starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek was lost to an upper body injury in the first period, and despite the Caps being vastly outplayed for much of the game's first 40 minutes.

Ilya Samsonov stepped on in relief of Vanecek at 6:43 of the first with the score even at 1-1. Samsonov stopped 43 of the 45 shots he faced to pick up his first victory since Dec. 31. With Tuesday's victory, the Caps have managed to string together consecutive victories for the first time in calendar 2022.
"Tonight, we had to fight and claw for everything out there," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "I like the fact that we stayed with it; scored a big goal at the end of the first and a big goal at the end of the second. We found a way to make it 3-3 and push it and get it done in overtime."
The Caps and Pens played a high-event first period with four goals and four penalties, and with two players taking the four penalties and all four goals coming from special teams.
Washington winger Daniel Sprong went to the box first, and the Caps grabbed a 1-0 lead on Nic Dowd's shorthanded breakaway goal 26 seconds later, at 5:50 of the first. That left the Pens with plenty of power play time remaining, and they pulled even on an Evgeni Malkin shot from the inside of the right circle at 6:26.
Seconds after that, Caps starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek left the ice in favor of Ilya Samsonov. Vanecek took the brunt of a collision with Pens forward Kasperi Kapanen just before the four-minute mark of the first. He stayed in the game initially, but departed with an upper body injury at the first television timeout of the first period.
A couple minutes after Samsonov took over in the Washington crease, Sprong went to the box again. Pittsburgh's power play came through for a second time, getting a Bryan Rust goal at 11:26 of the first to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
Late in the frame, Pens winger Jake Guentzel took a pair of penalties just over two minutes apart, and Washington's power play went to work for the first time. With the final seconds of that man advantage ticking away, ex-Pens winger Conor Sheary took it to the net on a rush down the right side. Pens goalie Tristan Jarry made the stop, but Dmitry Orlov followed up and put the rebound under the crossbar, tying the game at 2-2 at 16:13 of the first.
Guentzel's second penalty came at 16:51, and though the Caps had some good looks, they weren't able to score for what would have been the fourth consecutive time with the man advantage, dating back to Friday's game in Dallas. And as was the case on Friday against the Stars, they wouldn't get another power play chance after those two in the first period.
The middle frame was also eventful. The Caps kept taking penalties - three of them in the second - and the Pens scored their third power-play goal at 4:44 of the first to retake the lead. Rust - who is hotter than hell in the summertime right now - netted his second of the night to put Pittsburgh back on top.
Washington appeared to have answered back at 7:05 when Dowd made a deft deflection of a Garnet Hathaway shot from the point. But Pittsburgh challenged the call, alleging goaltender interference, and the powers that be in the NHL Situation Room agreed.
Pittsburgh maintained its lead and kept pumping pucks on Samsonov, who made a couple of his best stops of the night in the second, denying Kapanen on a semi-breakaway and then thwarting Brock McGinn 's bid on the rebound.
The Caps survived two more Pittsburgh power plays in the middle period, and then a dazzling individual effort from Sprong got them even in the final minute.
John Carlson chipped the puck along the wall in Washington ice, and Sprong collected it along the left-wing boards at his own blueline. He threw an indirect feed to himself, enabling him to get around Pens defender Chad Ruhwedel with speed. Sprong collected the puck near the left circle in Pittsburgh territory, cut to the cage and flipped it to the shelf, tying the game at 3-3 with 41.3 seconds left in the second.
Despite being outshot 23-7 in the second, the Caps went to the room all even at 3-3 for second intermission.
The third period was fairly even with both sides generating chances and looks, and both sides failing to forge ahead. Samsonov made a great stop on Sidney Crosby in the extra session, setting the stage for Orlov's game-winning heroics.
Evgeny Kuznetsov carried down the right side into Pittsburgh ice, leaving a drop feed for Orlov above the right circle. The defenseman carried deeper into the zone before curling off the half wall and carrying to the middle of the ice for a different look. From between the circles, he let it fly, and it beat Jarry on the stick side, giving the Caps the second standings point at 4:17.
"I had the puck and I kind of crisscrossed, and I saw that Pittsburgh was stretching me a little bit," recounts Orlov. "I got that one step and I was in the middle, so I just shoot and the puck goes in. It's a huge win, a huge two points for us."
Pittsburgh dropped its fourth straight game (0-1-3) but was not unhappy with its Tuesday night performance.
"I thought it was the best game we've played in a while," says Pens coach Mike Sullivan. "I thought our energy level was tremendous, I thought we were playing on our toes, I thought we controlled territory, we generated a number of scoring chances, and our power play was dynamic. For me, it had all of the ingredients that makes the identity of the Penguins what it is.
"it's unfortunate we didn't get the result. We had a few breakdowns; I thought Washington was opportunistic and they scored on them. But for the most part, we really liked our team game."