The Washington Capitals had to come back and overcome a lousy first period but for the first time in the spring of 2018, they would get a playoff win on their home ice. In overtime too. Maybe we should’ve known by then how different that spring was.
Although the Caps were awarded a power play when Thomas Vanek was called for tripping they were caught on the short end when Matt Calvert rushed down the ice and scored a shorthanded goal at 10:08 to give the Blue Jackets an early 1-0 lead.
This was the spring of lucky bounces for the boys in red and that continued here in Game 5 when Nicklas Backstrom‘s shot trickled off David Savard’s skate and off of the back of Sergei Bobrovsky’s helmet into the net to tie the game at 13:22.