Capitals Beat Penguins in Overtime; Sidney Crosby Injured

In what was essentially a must win game, the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in overtime in Game 3 of their second round Stanley Cup playoff in Pittsburgh on May 1st. The Capitals lost the first two games in the series, and looked like they were in their familiar role of underachievers in the playoffs, and blew a two goal lead in this game before Kevin Shattenkirk scored at 3:13 of overtime to win it for Washington.

So the Penguins lost the game, but ominously, Sidney Crosby was injured at %:24 of the first period and didn’t return. Crosby was slashed by Alex Ovechkin and while off balance, collided with Matt Niskanen, who, with his stick raised, caught Crosby in the face with it. Crosby was down a few minutes, but managed to skate off the ice. Niskanen was given a five minute major for cross checking, as well as a game misconduct penalty (Ovechkin was not penalized). Niskanen insisted he had no malicious intent, but opinion was predictably mixed on that. Here’s the play, decide for yourself:

The series resumes in Pittsburg on May 3rd. It was announced on May 2nd that Crosby has a concussion and will not play. He has missed significant time in his career due to concussions. The NHL announced it would not suspend Niskanen for the hit.