Overtime came at the perfect time for the Washington Capitals.

Outshot [url=http://www.ramscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-josh-reynolds-jersey]Josh Reynolds Jersey[/url] , outskated and outplayed by the Columbus Blue Jackets in a lopsided third period of Game 5, the Capitals went into their locker room at intermission Saturday with no choice but to talk about what went wrong in blowing yet another lead.

”We knew we had to be better,” Nicklas Backstrom said.

Better they were in a dominant overtime that Backstrom ended 11:53 in with his second goal of the game to give Washington a 4-3 victory and a 3-2 lead over the Blue Jackets in the first-round series. Thanks to goaltender Braden Holtby making 15 of his 39 saves in the third period and Backstrom’s first two goals of these playoffs, the Metropolitan Division champions can close out Columbus on the road Monday in Game 6.

”I think we’ve always regrouped at intermissions and came back,” said Holtby, who has stopped 102 of 109 shots since replacing Philipp Grubauer in net two periods into Game 2. ”It shows our confidence and our experience in a lot of areas.”

The playoff-tested Capitals took punch after punch when they were outshot 16-1 by the Blue Jackets in the third period, including Oliver Bjorkstrand’s deflection goal 2:30 in that tied it. Holtby made saves in quantity and quality, most notably on Columbus No. 1 center Pierre-Luc Dubois on a rebound and again on an attempt to bat the puck out of the air, to get to overtime for the fourth time in five games this series.

That’s when everything changed. Suddenly, two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was besieged, having to stop Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson from point-blank range early in overtime.

”We just came out as a new team,” Carlson said. ”We’ve went out and attacked in every game that we’ve won. That was our mindset, and I think we played a great overtime.”

Overtime has been the difference in this series. Artemi Panarin and Matt Calvert scored the winners in Games 1 and 2 for Columbus, Lars Eller in double OT in Game 3 for Washington and then Backstrom in Game 5, deflecting defenseman Dmitry Orlov’s shot past Bobrovsky to send the sellout crowd in Washington into a frenzy.

”I got a tip on it, and it’s usually what happens in the playoffs,” Backstrom said. ”Tip goals or rebound goals. That’s the way it is.”

The road team won the first four games of a Stanley Cup playoff series for the fifth time over the past 10 years. Holtby’s 39 saves [url=http://www.lionscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-graham-glasgow-jersey]Graham Glasgow Jersey[/url] , including a big one on Bjorkstrand in overtime, made sure the home team won Game 5 for the fifth time.

”One of our best players, our goalie, was our best player again,” Washington forward Brett Connolly said. ”He’s come in here and he’s played three amazing games. Kudos to him. He’s been great for us and we obviously need him to keep playing this way if we’re going to be successful.”

Bobrovsky didn’t play poorly other than perhaps a soft goal allowed to Evgeny Kuznetsov early in the second period. After two goals from Matt Calvert and his team’s effort wasn’t enough Saturday, coach John Tortorella is betting on ”Bob” to come up big again in Game 6.

”Two good goalies. Good game,” Tortorella said. ”We’ll be back here for Game 7.”

It’s now the Capitals’ goal to avoid a Game 7 at home, where they’re 2-5 over the past decade in the Ovechkin era. Coach Barry Trotz, whose team has lost the past two times they’ve played Game 7 at home, shrugged off Tortorella’s assurance of a game in Washington on Wednesday after players insisted they know what to expect from Columbus in Game 6.

”What else is he going to say?” Trotz said. ”It’s our job for that not to happen.”

NOTES: Bobrovsky allowed four goals on 29 shots. … Thirteen of the Capitals’ past 24 playoff games have been decided in overtime. … With an assist on T.J. Oshie’s power-play goal, Carlson has eight points through five games. … Ovechkin led all players with seven shots on goal. … Calvert scored twice in a playoff game for the second time in his career. … Blue Jackets C Alexander Wennberg returned after missing Games 2, 3 and 4 following a hit to the head from Tom Wilson. He replaced Sonny Milano in the lineup. … The Capitals made no changes after winning back-to-back games in Columbus, keeping Chandler Stephenson on the second line in the absence of Andre Burakovsky, who’s out for at least the remainder of the series with an upper-body injury.

—

Baker Mayfield's flag-planting, crotch-grabbing antics didn't deter the Browns. They ignored his height, did their homework on an off-field arrest and cross-checked his character.

Mayfield passed all the tests.

As far as the Browns are concerned, he's nothing like Johnny Manziel 鈥?except for his Heisman Trophy.

After months of dissection and debate [url=http://www.coltscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-matthias-farley-jersey]Matthias Farley Jersey[/url] , the Browns selected Mayfield, Oklahoma's cocky and charismatic quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday, a somewhat surprising selection by a team that figured to play it safe with such an important decision.

But coming off a 0-16 season, the Browns are betting that Mayfield is a better player than USC's Sam Darnold, Wyoming's Josh Allen or UCLA's Josh Rosen, a talented group regarded as the top QB class in years.

They're also confident he won't be a headache like Manziel, who fizzled out in two party-filled seasons with Cleveland.

"In doing all of our research with Baker Mayfield, he has earned it, from high school, to college, he has earned it," Browns general manager John Dorsey said. "I have no qualms whatsoever about him as a man or as a football player."

The Browns followed Mayfield's selection with another surprise, using the No. 4 pick on Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward. Cleveland was thought to be high on North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb or Alabama cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick, but they instead opted for the speedy Ward, who skipped his senior season with the Buckeyes to turn pro.

Mayfield understands the Manziel comparisons, and the 23-year-old knows there are Cleveland fans who see him as Johnny Football 2.0.

However, Mayfield insists he's his own man.

"Johnny and I are two completely different people [url=http://www.jaguarscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-austin-seferian-jenkins-jersey]Austin Seferian-Jenkins Jersey[/url] ," Mayfield said on a conference call from his home in Austin, Texas. "That's nothing against him, but what I've been able to do is be upfront and honest about who I am during these meetings. I'm confident that I showed that with this coaching staff and with the management throughout this process.

"But for me moving forward it's just being myself. I'm not going to go out and try and prove I'm not Johnny, I'm going to be myself and in the end that's going to take care of the rest."

When Dorsey called Mayfield and asked him, "Let me ask you a question, you want to be the first pick in the draft?" Mayfield broke down and cried.

Mayfield said he became emotional after looking around at people who stuck with him through good and bad.

"It just kind of brought out all of the emotions of the tough times that we went through and the good ones," he said. "To think about it all there in that moment, it was going to be a fresh start, and it was a whole lot of emotion packed into one phone call."

At Oklahoma, he was college football's top player last season, passing for 4,627 yards, 43 touchdowns and winning the Heisman last season. But his size (he's just over 6-foot), and the questions about his character following a 2017 arrest in Arkansas and some on-field antics 鈥?a flag planting at Ohio State and lewd gesture at Kansas 鈥?seemed to eliminate him from being picked first.

But as Dorsey, coach Hue Jackson and others in Cleveland's organization spent more time with him, the Browns became convinced that he's the one who can finally end their long search for a franchise quarterback. Cleveland has started 28 QBs since 1999.

"My faith says every man deserves a second chance," Dorsey said. "Young men do certain things. We all learn from our mistakes. I like the guy. I have no problems with a young man making mistakes and moving forward."

Mayfield [url=http://www.pantherscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-shaq-thompson-jersey]Shaq Thompson Jersey[/url] , who went 33-6 in games he started (he sat out the first quarter of his final game with a suspension) is the fifth quarterback taken in the first round by the Browns in their expansion era 鈥?and first since Manziel.

And although he may be Cleveland's quarterback of the future, the present belongs to Tyrod Taylor, who was acquired during the offseason in a trade from Buffalo. Jackson has already named Taylor as his starter in 2018, and the plan is for Mayfield to develop as a backup.

For now, Mayfield is going along with it.

"That's a veteran that's been in the league," he said. "He's a guy that I could sit behind and learn from. For me, when I say those type of things, it's because I'm competitive. If I came in with the mindset of just being happy I got drafted and just to settle for a backup job, that wouldn't be myself."

This is the second straight year the Browns have picked first. Cleveland addressed a major defensive need and selected defensive end Myles Garrett with the first overall pick in 2017.

Dorsey revamped his secondary with a trade and three free-agent signings. But he was missing a shutdown cornerback and believes he's got one now in Ward, a Cleveland kid who feels he's ready to help his hometown team win.

"I'm very confident in my ability and I look forward to that pressure," Ward said. "Being at Ohio State, there was pressure all the time there. Everybody was on edge there. It's kind of nothing new having the pressure on me."

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