TJ Oshie's Heroics Set Stage for Knock-Down, Drag-Out Caps-Pens Series

At first, it looked as if a trick would be played on the hat-tossers. The chapeaus came flying from the stands of the Verizon Center after Washington's T.J. Oshie appeared to slip a wraparound just inside the post to beat Matt Murray and the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference Semifinal game. 

But, hold the phone. Did the puck actually cross the red line? At first, the camera angles looked bad for Oshie and the Caps, and for all the hat-tossers. But, on further review: good goal.

They appeared to make the right call on Oshie's hat-trick marker that beat the Penguins 4-3 in Game 1. A replay from the front, left side of the net looked to confirm that white space indeed appeared between the black puck and the red line, capping off a fun first game that was back and forth all the way.

 "Close one, but glad it went in," Oshie told NBC's Pierre McGuire. "We thought we had the momentum on our side. We just wanted to stay patient."

Oshie, the former USA Olympic shootout darling who the Capitals acquired in the offseason from the St. Louis Blues, was about the only guy wearing red who could finish anything in this one. 

The Capitals blew three glorious chances to win the game late, the first time with about five minutes left in regulation when Jason Chimera had the puck on his backhand and a wide-open net off a rebound and he couldn't put it in. Alex Ovechkin was stopped on this breakaway with 3:27 left in regulation, and Andre Burakovsky had the puck alone from about 15 feet in front, with a lot of net to shoot at, and just put it over the crossbar early in OT.

But the Capitals did a nice job of limiting the Penguins' chances after Nick Bonino tied the game 3-3 at 8:42 of the third. In the end, they deserved this one a little more, although Pittsburgh outshot Washington 45-35. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby was victimized by Bonino, Evgeni Malkin and Ben Lovejoy, but Oshie answered those goals by himself and Washington got one other, by Burakovsky.

The Blues were criticized somewhat after dealing Oshie for Troy Brouwer, but look at what's happened in just the last few days. Oshie is your Game 1 hero, and Brouwer's goal for St. Louis eliminated the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7 of the first round. The trade is working just fine for both teams.

Oshie's young daughter, Lyla, certainly must have been happy after this one too, judging by her disdain for the Penguins.

The Penguins have to wonder now if Murray is the man to start the next game. Let's face it, Oshie's final goal was not a good one to allow. It didn't seem like Oshie had that big a jump on him wheeling around the net. It seemed like it would be a fairly easy save for Murray, the rookie who relieved Jeff Zatkoff early in the first round, while normal starter Marc-Andre Fleury remains sidelined with a concussion.

Murray probably deserves another start, but coach Mike Sullivan can't be too happy with a couple of the goals he allowed. The Penguins had a 2-1 lead after a pretty Malkin backhander past Holtby in the second, with growing momentum. But then Oshie tied it on a short-side shot from the right circle, a stoppable shot.

Murray wasn't too happy with the call on the winning goal:

Sullivan, though, wouldn't risk a fine with any criticism:

For the Caps, they'll need to tighten up a bit in their own zone. They were sloppy with the puck too often, a little too loose in the neutral zone with their defensive gap coverage. Holtby, though, made some dandy stops to keep his team always in it.

Washington has to feel pretty good that it won without any goals from Ovechkin or Nicklas Backstrom. That has been the difference between this Caps club and ones of recent past. They don't rely on just one line anymore to do all the scoring. 

They're perfectly willing to pass the hat around to other guys now, guys like T.J. Oshie.

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report