With their backs against a wall, and a black and gold sweaters towering in front of them, the Washington Capitals knew they needed to come out strong. They certainly did with rocket to the top right corner of the netting in the first 5 minutes of the first period from their captain Alexander Ovechkin, who had been relatively quiet in the series. The Penguins did not take long to respond though, with a goal by Chris Kunitz on a power-play just a few minutes later. The next strike took place in the 2nd period, when TJ Oshie tapped home and juicy rebound dished out by the usually stellar Penguins goaltender Matt Murray. The knockout punch was delivered by Justin Williams, who intercepted a half hearted clearance by a Penguin, and ripped a shot through the legs of Murray. The Caps goalie, Braden Holtby, had some sensational saves to make the game an overall exceptional performance by the whole Caps roster.

Teams have trailed 3-1 in a best of seven series a total of 229 times and have come back to win on a total of 20 occasions, or 8.7% of the time, according to NHL.com. The Capitals have come back from this deficit twice. The Penguins have lost while leading at this deficit twice.