COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Game 3 ended at 11:26 p.m., Nationwide Arena didn’t look much different than it did at the opening faceoff. The facility reported a crowd of 19,337, a franchise record for the Columbus Blue Jackets, regular season or playoffs, and most of them stayed till the bitter end.
For the third straight game of this series, overtime was necessary to decide the winner, and for the third straight time, the visiting team found a way to pull it out.
Lars Eller kicked in the game-winning goal nine minutes into the game’s second overtime, delivering the Washington Capitals their first win of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.