T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom Score as Capitals Crush Penguins to Force Game 7

The Washington Capitals earned a 5-2 road win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday in PPG Paints Arena to even their playoff series at 3-3.

It was a comprehensive victory for the Capitals, who limited their opponents to 18 shots and forced 11 giveaways.

The Penguins couldn't have envisaged a much worse start to the game. They managed only three shots in the first period—one of which came 136 feet away from Washington's net.

With Pittsburgh's offense sputtering, Washington had even more license to heap constant pressure on Marc-Andre Fleury. After repelling a handful of Capitals attacks, Fleury surrendered a goal to T.J. Oshie with seven minutes, 19 seconds remaining in the opening period.

NHL on NBC shared a replay of the goal:

According to the Capitals, Oshie has already set a career high for points in a single playoffs (four goals, seven assists).

Andre Burakovsky doubled Washington's advantage 6:36 into the second period. It wasn't a great piece of goaltending from Fleury, who let the puck slip past him at the near post.

While nobody was credited with an assist on the goal, Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan praised Oshie for his role in making it happen:

Only 16 seconds into the third period, Nicklas Backstrom added an insurance goal for Washington. The goal sucked the energy out of the arena, and the home fans fell silent as the Capitals celebrated their three-goal lead. Courtesy of the NHL:

Burakovsky and John Carlson tacked on two more goals for Washington. Fox Sports' Pete Blackburn was worried the Capitals might be exhausting their offensive reserves with one more game to play:

"

SAVE SOME GOALS FOR WEDNESDAY CAPITALS, YOU IDIOTS

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 9, 2017"

Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin got the Penguins on the board with two late goals, which came far too late for Pittsburgh to mount a comeback.

Following the concussion he suffered in Game 3 of the series, Sidney Crosby returned for Pittsburgh's Game 5 defeat. The six-time All-Star looked good, assisting on Phil Kessel's goal that gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead before they surrendered three goals in the third period.

In Game 6, Crosby was largely anonymous before assisting on Guentzel's goal.

In the first period, he landed headfirst into the boards. Given he recently recovered from a concussion, the fact Crosby remained in the game surprised some:

The hit on Crosby could explain his poor performance Monday, and it will be interesting to see if it becomes a bigger story ahead of Game 7.

The Capitals weren't exactly dead and buried, but things were looking bleak in Game 3 when they surrendered two goals in the final two minutes of regulation to force overtime. They were already down 2-0 in the series, and a third straight defeat would've been devastating.

Instead, Kevin Shattenkirk scored for Washington in the extra period. And then the Capitals battled back from a 2-1 deficit with one period to play in Game 5 to stay alive.

Now, they have a Game 7 at home.

With the way momentum has swung back and forth over the course of the series, nobody should write off the Penguins' chances of winning on the road to advance despite how bad they looked in Game 6.