WASHINGTON _ Coughing up third-period leads has been comet-level rare for the Penguins under coach Mike Sullivan.
There was a strike on Saturday at Verizon Center, as the Capitals rallied in the third period to steal a 4-2 win, extending the Eastern Conference semifinals to a sixth game.
Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin struck in the final 20 minutes for Washington, two of them in a 27-second span, as the Capitals staved off elimination against a team that has beaten them in eight of nine playoff meetings all-time.
Game 6 will be Monday back in Pittsburgh.
Since the start of 2015-16, the Penguins entered Saturday's game 94-3-1 when leading after two periods, including an 18-2 mark in the playoffs.
Washington, meanwhile, had been 0-4 this postseason when it trailed entering the third.
It didn't matter.
The Capitals turned up the heat in the third period in a way they haven't all series, getting huge contributions from their biggest stars and taking advantage of several Penguins miscues.
Kuznetsov's goal, at 7:20, produced the separation the Capitals would need. It started when Carl Hagelin was unable to clear a puck, and Capitals defenseman John Carlson kept it in.
The impossible angle _ about one degree _ was more impressive than anything.
Ovechkin provided some insurance at 7:47, staying with the rebound of his own shot after a Ron Hainsey block, roofing it past Marc-Andre Fleury.
Speaking of Fleury, this turned out to be one of the rare times this postseason where he's looked human, giving up four goals on 32 shots.
Capitals netminder Braden Holtby found a form he's not attained for much of this series _ potentially scary if you're the Penguins. Holtby stopped 20 of 22 shots, many of them high-quality.
The Penguins lost for just the fourth time in the past 12 games when they could clinch a series against the Capitals.
They had been 26-4 in road games where they had a chance to clinch and score first, another stat to prove the unlikeliness of this loss.
Backstrom tied the score at 2 at 2:49 of the third period. Quiet for much of this series, Backstrom took a feed from Andre Burakovsky and beat Fleury wide side from the left circle.
Fleury had a clean look at the puck, but another issue was how easily the Penguins let the Capitals enter the zone. Whether it was tighter or gaps or their defensemen playing smarter, there will be plenty to work on before Game 6.
After trading goals in the first period, the Penguins struck with Capitals defenseman Nate Schmidt off for holding early in the second, picking up their third power-play goal of the series to make it 2-1 at 4:20.
Sidney Crosby, back from a one-game absence because of a concussion, was working below the goal line. He passed out to Evgeni Malkin in the right circle, who slid a cross-ice pass over to Kessel.
From one knee, Kessel pumped a shot that went off Holtby's glove and the near post before settling into the back of the net.
The Penguins talked at Saturday's morning skate about the importance of having a better start, of playing the right way and potentially getting the first goal.
They weren't perfect early, but Hagelin did give them a 1-0 lead at 10:24 of the first period when he fired a shot from the slot under Holtby's glove.
Nick Bonino facilitated the play along the wall with a one-touch, no-look feed out to Hagelin, who scored for the first time since Jan. 20 at Carolina. The goal was just Hagelin's second in his past 14 playoff games.
Capitals forward Tom Wilson made his presence felt in the first period. In one sequence, he hit Trevor Daley from behind, then launched Jake Guentzel into the benches, picking up a charging minor in the process.
Holtby's biggest save early came on Olli Maatta, whom Bryan Rust set up perfectly for a scoring chance. Maatta involved himself plenty offensively on this night. Fleury countered with a key stop of Burakovsky when the Penguins were killing a penalty.
Burakovsky brought the Capitals back even with his goal at 19:30. He toe-dragged around Matt Cullen atop the left circle, then beat Fleury blocker side. It marked the first bottom-six goal for the Penguins in this series.
Was it legal, though? The Penguins seemed to think Lars Eller closed his hand on the puck, and Crosby argued.
Eller certainly caught the puck. He dropped it to the ice while maneuvering around a Tom Kuhnhackl forecheck.
In the end, because of what the Capitals did in the third period, it became a non-issue, much like the Penguins would like this game to be come Monday.
