Floodgates finally open for Capitals with season on the line

Although they faced a 3-1 series deficit, no one in their right mind could say the Washington Capitals were playing bad hockey.

The Presidents' Trophy winners were at the mercy - once again - of their nemesis, the Pittsburgh Penguins, despite controlling the majority of play through four games.

Entering Game 5, the Capitals had out-attempted the Penguins 306-180, and they continued the trend Saturday night with one major difference: they scored.

The final count in Game 5 favored Washington 66-52 in all situations, and while their chances of staving off elimination looked grim after 40 minutes, the relentless Capitals attack paid off, at last.

Facing a 2-1 disadvantage, Nicklas Backstrom knotted things early in the third, then goals 27 seconds apart, from Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin, gave the Caps four tallies in a game for the first time in the series.

There you have it.

Of course, Marc-Andre Fleury's performance has played a role in the Capitals' poor puck luck, too, but Washington finally broke through, and it couldn't have happened at a better time.