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WASHINGTON (AP) Overtime came at the perfect time for the Washington Capitals.Outshot http://www.officialhockeypanthersshop.com/authentic-adidas-james-reimer-jersey , outskated and outplayed by the Columbus Blue Jackets in a lopsided third period of Game 5, the Capitals went into their locker room at intermission Saturday with no choice but to talk about what went wrong in blowing yet another lead.”We knew we had to be better,” Nicklas Backstrom said.Better they were in a dominant overtime that Backstrom ended 11:53 in with his second goal of the game to give Washington a 4-3 victory and a 3-2 lead over the Blue Jackets in the first-round series. Thanks to goaltender Braden Holtby making 15 of his 39 saves in the third period and Backstrom’s first two goals of these playoffs, the Metropolitan Division champions can close out Columbus on the road Monday in Game 6.”I think we’ve always regrouped at intermissions and came back,” said Holtby, who has stopped 102 of 109 shots since replacing Philipp Grubauer in net two periods into Game 2. ”It shows our confidence and our experience in a lot of areas.”The playoff-tested Capitals took punch after punch when they were outshot 16-1 by the Blue Jackets in the third period, including Oliver Bjorkstrand’s deflection goal 2:30 in that tied it. Holtby made saves in quantity and quality, most notably on Columbus No. 1 center Pierre-Luc Dubois on a rebound and again on an attempt to bat the puck out of the air, to get to overtime for the fourth time in five games this series.That’s when everything changed. Suddenly, two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was besieged, having to stop Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson from point-blank range early in overtime.”We just came out as a new team,” Carlson said. ”We’ve went out and attacked in every game that we’ve won. That was our mindset, and I think we played a great overtime.”Overtime has been the difference in this series. Artemi Panarin and Matt Calvert scored the winners in Games 1 and 2 for Columbus, Lars Eller in double OT in Game 3 for Washington and then Backstrom in Game 5, deflecting defenseman Dmitry Orlov’s shot past Bobrovsky to send the sellout crowd in Washington into a frenzy.”I got a tip on it, and it’s usually what happens in the playoffs,” Backstrom said. ”Tip goals or rebound goals. That’s the way it is.”The road team won the first four games of a Stanley Cup playoff series for the fifth time over the past 10 years. Holtby’s 39 saves, including a big one on Bjorkstrand in overtime, made sure the home team won Game 5 for the fifth time.”One of our best players Youth Jamie McGinn Jersey , our goalie, was our best player again,” Washington forward Brett Connolly said. ”He’s come in here and he’s played three amazing games. Kudos to him. He’s been great for us and we obviously need him to keep playing this way if we’re going to be successful.”Bobrovsky didn’t play poorly other than perhaps a soft goal allowed to Evgeny Kuznetsov early in the second period. After two goals from Matt Calvert and his team’s effort wasn’t enough Saturday, coach John Tortorella is betting on ”Bob” to come up big again in Game 6.”Two good goalies. Good game,” Tortorella said. ”We’ll be back here for Game 7.”It’s now the Capitals’ goal to avoid a Game 7 at home, where they’re 2-5 over the past decade in the Ovechkin era. Coach Barry Trotz, whose team has lost the past two times they’ve played Game 7 at home, shrugged off Tortorella’s assurance of a game in Washington on Wednesday after players insisted they know what to expect from Columbus in Game 6.”What else is he going to say?” Trotz said. ”It’s our job for that not to happen.”NOTES: Bobrovsky allowed four goals on 29 shots. … Thirteen of the Capitals’ past 24 playoff games have been decided in overtime. … With an assist on T.J. Oshie’s power-play goal, Carlson has eight points through five games. … Ovechkin led all players with seven shots on goal. … Calvert scored twice in a playoff game for the second time in his career. … Blue Jackets C Alexander Wennberg returned after missing Games 2, 3 and 4 following a hit to the head from Tom Wilson. He replaced Sonny Milano in the lineup. … The Capitals made no changes after winning back-to-back games in Columbus, keeping Chandler Stephenson on the second line in the absence of Andre Burakovsky, who’s out for at least the remainder of the series with an upper-body injury.— BOSTON — Rick Middleton’s name is all over the Boston Bruins‘ record books.It hasn’t been enough to send the man they call ‘Nifty’ into the Hall of Fame — but it is enough to get his No. 16 raised to the TD Garden rafters prior to Thursday night’s game against the New York Islanders.Acquired from the New York Rangers in exchange for Ken Hodge — the latter reunited with Phil Esposito in New York, Middleton is third in goals (402), even strength goals (275), and shooting percentage (20.0), fourth in points (898) goals created (357.2), and goals for on ice (1,319), fifth in power play goals (102) Womens Jared McCann Jersey , sixth in assists (496) and game winning goals (52), tied for sixth in hat tricks), seventh in shots (2,007), eighth in games played (881) and goals per game (0.46) and 10th in plus-minus (plus-220).Article continues below ...Oh, and he’s the team’s all-time leader with 25 short-handed goals.“Loved ‘Nifty,’ even though I was a defenseman,” said current Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “Crafty. One-on-one. Played in traffic. I liked watching him and Barry Pederson feed off each other.”Cassidy’s banged-up team (13-7-4) comes home for a two-game homestand after a split of a Montreal/Toronto trip — and still looking for more production.The Bruins, top heavy with the Patrice Bergeron line doing much of the scoring, is now without Bergeron, who suffered an upper body injury that will cost him a month. General manager Don Sweeney admitted Monday he is searching for a possible trade for offense — and the Bruins recalled Ryan Donato from Providence, where he had nine points in 10 games since his demotion.The defense, missing as many as six regulars at one point, has lost Kevan Miller again, this time for at least five weeks with larynx damage suffered when he took a puck to the throat in Toronto.“He plays his heart out. That’s two blocked shots that have put him out,” said Cassidy. “We’ll miss him.”Brandon Carlo, who has been out since Nov. 10 with a shoulder/collarbone injury, returned to practice Wednesday and expects to play either Thursday or Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings. Meanwhile, Charlie McAvoy (concussion) has been skating but took a day off Wednesday — a move not considered a setback.The Islanders (12-9-2) will “re-open” their old home Jonathan Huberdeau Jersey , the Nassau Coliseum, Saturday night. First, they have the Bruins and are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in Brooklyn Monday night.The Bruins swept three games from the Isles last season.“We’re headed in the right direction,” coach Barry Trotz. “We’re trending in the right direction from a total hockey standpoint, from the people running it, such as Lou (GM Lamoriello), and the infrastructure behind that.”Hard-working forward Casey Cizikas, who has missed the last six games with a lower body injury, was removed from IR and will be back for Thursday night’s game.“He brings a lot of intangibles,” said Trotz, whose new team lost to his old team — the defending Stanley Cup champions — Monday night, in a game played after Trotz received his championship ring.The Bruins have alternated Jaroslav Halak and Tuukka Rask since Rask returned from a three-day personal absence, leaving Rask in line for Thursday. He is an impressive 12-5-0 with a 2.22 goals-against average and .930 save percentages lifetime against the Islanders.Halak, who spent his last four seasons playing for the Islanders, was 7-1-1 with a 1.53 GAA and .950 save percentage against New York before going there.Thomas Greiss has played three straight and seven of the last eight games in goal for New York. He is 8-4-1 on the season and is 2-3-0 with a 1.63 GAA and .950 save percentage lifetime against the Bruins.Robin Lehner, who has struggled this season with his new team (4-5-1), is just 4-11-3 with a 2.71 GAA and .922 save percentage all-time against Boston.