Washington Capitals Win In NHL OT Thriller

T.J. Oshie raised his arms in celebration and looked at referee Dan O'Rourke. Oshie was pretty sure he scored in overtime to complete a hat trick and one of the biggest games of his career.

Oshie's third goal of the night stood up after video review and the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Thursday night in an overtime thriller that was a classic start to the highly anticipated second-round playoff series between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.

"That's kind of the stuff you dream about when you're a kid playing in the backyard by yourself is scoring the OT winner and getting a hat trick," Oshie said. "It was awesome. Great way to win."

Oshie's wraparound just barely crossed the goal line against the right pad of Pittsburgh's Matt Murray 9:33 into overtime. The call on the ice was a goal, and the NHL's situation room said video replay confirmed that the puck was completely over the line.

Murray, who made 31 saves but was beaten three times by Oshie and once by Andre Burakovsky, wasn't convinced.

"The ref called it a goal on the ice," Murray said. "I don't know how he could have possibly seen it from his angle. But I thought I had it, to be honest. I knew it was close, but I thought it never fully crossed the line. I thought it was close enough that it would be inconclusive."

To the Penguins, it was an inconclusive end to a fast game played at their blistering pace. Ben Lovejoy, Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bonino scored for Pittsburgh, which will try to even the best-of-seven series Saturday night in Game 2.

Thursday, April 28 Scoreboard

Washington 4, Pittsburgh 3 (OT)

Game 1 - Capitals lead 1-0

Friday, April 29 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Dallas

Game 1 - Series tied 0-0, 7 p.m.

Nashville at San Jose

Game 1 - Series tied 0-0, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 30 Schedule (All Times Central)

NY Islanders at Tampa Bay

Game 2 - Islanders lead 1-0, 2 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Washington

Game 2 - Series tied 0-0, 7 p.m.

Sunday, May 1 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Dallas

Game 2 - Series tied 0-0, 2 p.m.

Nashville at San Jose

Game 2 - Series tied 0-0, 7 p.m.