This series, tight and tense, did not relent at all for Game Five. Not so much of a track meet this time, instead big hits and big whistles dominated the night, a chippy affair in which the Toronto Maple Leafs had the distinct possession edge until the Capitals got their game together in the third.

When Alex Ovechkin got hurt — or so we thought! —  in the first period, TJ Oshie enacted revenge with a power play goal. It was nice, but the Caps took no momentum from the first period. They were on their heels in the second, and Auston Matthews got one of those typical Auston Matthews goals to tie it up. The third was agonizing but yielded no goals, pushing us to overtime for the third time this series.

Then, Justin Williams, playoff hero, ended it.

Caps win! Caps lead series 3-2!

• The first period stuttered along with little action in the ends. We did, however, get a big hit by Alex Ovechkin on Jake Gardiner. I wonder if Nazem Kadri saw that.
• The Nazem Kadri hit on Alex Ovechkin was late and low. It was what adolescent referee padawans are shown during the course on clipping they get on Dantooine. Ovechkin went down and stayed down, needing help to get to the dressing room. He did not return to the game…
• …Until the next period! Ha! Were you scared? I wasn’t scared. Okay, I was a little scared, but the guy has been doing impossible things for more than a decade. This, just the latest in the litany. We chose well, everybody.
• The Caps were ferocious on the ensuing power play. Lots of action came down low, with TJ Oshie (ka-ching) putting Backstrom’s rebound in the back of the net.
• But the Caps had just four shots in the second period — and FIVE penalties. That was the wrong way to respond, and it cost the team a goal.
• Auston Matthews against his match-up, ripping Nylander’s rebound while out with Dmitry/Orlov and the Kuznetsov line. There was a lot of action up front, so it’s hard to fault the goalie, who only seems mortal because this has been a crazy series.
• At the end of that troubled second period, Alex Ovechkin gave Kadri a whack. Kadri embellished, but neither of those became a call. Matt Niskanen then, rather unwisely, slashed Kadri. That was bad.
• The Caps killed that penalty and then earned one of their own, but an intense 4-on-2 rush was halted when Kevin Shattenkirk hit Leo Komarov. Komarov bled, but there was no penalty. There was no apparent reason for the stoppage. Earlier this week, play didn’t stop when Werenski’s orbital shattered, but Komarov’s self-inflicted boo-boo was unacceptable? I am baffled.
• Tom Wilson was the star of Game Four because he turned on latent scoring talent and made a beautiful defensive play. I’ll note that neither of those involved player-vs-player physicality, which is what he had exclusively in Game Five. He committed four minor penalties and was benched in the third.
• Without one of their main killers, the Caps PK was still excellent, keeping Toronto shot-less on a few power plays. Brooks Orpik and John Carlson ate up a ton of shorthanded minutes and ate them well.

Joe B suit of the night

I feel like I have the flu. Playoff hockey can’t be good for you. I’m 85 percent sure my body is shutting down. One-goal playoff games probably kill more people than hippopotamuses, I’m pretty sure.

But that’s the life we chose when we became fans of this silly sport and stupid team. And on a night like tonight, we were rewarded for it.

Alright.

Full Coverage of Caps vs Maple Leafs

Headline photo: Robb Carr