Capitals ride Holtby, penalty kill in first round against Blue Jackets

The Washington Capitals advanced to the Eastern Conference Second Round for the fourth consecutive season by defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3 in Game 6 of the first round on Monday to win the series.
Washington twice won in overtime and won all three road games after trailing the series 2-0 to win four straight. It will play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round for the third straight season.
Here are 5 reasons why the Capitals advanced to the second round:

RELATED: [Complete Capitals vs. Blue Jackets series coverage]

1. Star power

Their top four offensive players during the regular season all performed well against Columbus. Defenseman John Carlson led the way with nine points (one goal, eight assists). Alex Ovechkin (five goals, three assists), Nicklas Backstrom (two goals, six assists) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (four goals, four assists) each had eight points.

2. Penalty kill

After allowing four goals on its first seven penalty kills in the series, Washington successfully killed 17 in a row starting with a Matt Niskanen tripping penalty in overtime of Game 2. Columbus did not score on the power play for the rest of the series, going 0-for-4 in Game 3, 0-for-3 in Game 4, 0-for-5 in Game 5, and 0-for-4 in Game 6. The Capitals also scored a shorthanded goal (Chandler Stephenson) in the third period to take a 5-2 lead in Game 6.

3. Braden Holtby

Although he did not start a playoff series for the first time since 2011, Holtby came through when it mattered. Holtby's regular-season struggles - his 2.99 goals-against average and .907 save percentage were the worst numbers of his career - were forgotten by the time he entered in relief of Philipp Grubauer to start the third period of Game 2. Holtby got the loss in Game 2, but saved 137 of the 147 shots he faced (1.97 GAA, .932 save percentage).

4. Never chasing

Washington scored first in five of the six games and rarely chased. The Blue Jackets held a lead for 20:47 of the 419:17 the teams played with four games being decided in overtime. Columbus won twice in overtime to start the series, but came back from trailing 2-0 in each game. The Capitals held a lead for 182:31.

5. Unsung heroes

Although they relied heavily on their stars, they needed some secondary scoring to advance. The bottom-six forwards weren't big offensive contributors late in the season, but came through in the playoffs. Chandler Stephenson, a fourth liner most of the year in his rookie season, spent the final three games replacing the injured Andre Burakovsky on the second line at left wing. He had four points (one goal, three assists) in Games 5 and 6.
Jay Beagle (one goal, two assists), Devante Smith-Pelley (two goals, one assist) and Tom Wilson (two goals, one assist) had three points each.