Capitals vs. Penguins 2016 odds: Washington needs win to stay alive as Game 6 underdogs

The Washington Capitals are just 6-8 in their last 14 games on the road. To keep their season alive, the Capitals will need to win their first road game of their second-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

Despite having the fewest shots they’ve taken in any game in this series in Game 5, the Washington Capitals came away with a 3-1 win to cut into Pittsburgh’s 3-1 series lead. Braden Holtby came up huge with 30 saves on 31 shots, and Alexander Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie each came up with a goal and an assist on the power play.

The Capitals had two power-play goals in Game 5 after scoring just one through the first four games of the series.

The Penguins got their first power-play goal of the series in Game 5 on a Chris Kunitz tally, but it turned out to be the only goal of the game for the Penguins. Pittsburgh’s power play hit at 47.6 percent in the team’s first-round victory over the Rangers but has gone just 1-for-16 (6.25 percent) in this series.

That stat hasn’t come back to bite the Penguins yet, but as the Capitals continue to fight for their playoff lives in elimination games, special teams could wind up being the difference. Pittsburgh is 21-5 over its last 26 games.

Before Sunday night’s 3-1 final, each game in this series had been decided by only one goal; Sunday’s result was hardly a break from the norm in this heavily contested and evenly matched series.

Pittsburgh’s last three postseason runs have come to an end on three-game losing streaks with ill-timed scoring droughts, and Game 6 is a critical one for the Penguins if they hope to buck the trend and avoid a Game 7.