Game 3 of Penguins-Capitals showed the series is must-see TV

What a wild mix of big hits, weird calls, and incredible moments.

Updated May 2, 2017, 1:58 AM UTC

So, Game 3 between the Capitals and Penguins is something else. With Washington down 2-0 in their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series, you just knew the intensity was going to ramp up as we moved to Pittsburgh.

No one, however, expected what Game 3 has wrought.

We’ve got big hits, injuries to big players, goals disallowed, and so much more. There’s a reason people billed this series as must watch entertainment, so let’s count the ways Game 3 has been utter chaos.

Sidney Crosby was injured within the first 10 minutes

Clouding over this game was the injury to the Penguins captain. A stick to the back of the head by Alex Ovechkin and a cross-check to follow it up from Matt Niskanen sent Crosby to the locker room for likely the rest of the game.

The hot takes were flying moments after the hit. Was Niskanen intentionally going after Crosby’s head? Or is it just an unfortunate accident? How about Ovechkin’s role? We at SB Nation are of the mind that Niskanen did not intend to injure Crosby, but the play was still reckless.

Niskanen was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the incident.

The Penguins had a goal allowed then disallowed within a few minute span

Washington scored first in the late stages of the first period, and the Penguins thought they had tied the game early in the second. However, the net came off its moorings and Chris Kunitz seemingly interfered with Braden Holtby on the goal.

First, the goal was ruled good on the ice. Then an official’s review deemed the puck in before the net came off. THEN the Capitals challenged for goaltender interference and won the call on Kunitz running into Holtby’s glove unassisted.

Here’s the reasoning given by the NHL on the disallowed goal:

At 1:05 of the second period in the Capitals/Penguins game, video review confirmed that the puck deflected off of Pittsburgh’s Chris Kunitz and crossed the Washington goal line in a legal fashion before the net became displaced. According to Rule 78.4 “The goal frame shall be considered in its proper position when at least a portion of the flexible peg(s) are still inside both the goal post and the hole in the ice”. Good goal Pittsburgh.