The Washington Capitals needed a lucky bounce to finally get an overtime win in Game 3 in their intense first-round playoff series with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Lars Eller got the last stick on a puck that bounced off him and Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski before rolling past Sergei Bobrovsky [url=http://www.packersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-oren-burks-jersey]http://www.packersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-oren-burks-jersey[/url] , and Washington got the 3-2 victory nine minutes into the second overtime Tuesday night.

The Capitals won at Nationwide Arena after Columbus won the first two games – both in overtime – in Washington. It was the Capitals’ turn to prevail in OT, this time on the Blue Jackets’ home ice, to pull to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

”It means a ton, a win like this after playing for that long,” Eller said. ”I’m sure they feel a lot more tired in that room than we are feeling right now. It gives you a lot of energy. It’s going to be a battle again in Game 4.”

Tom Wilson and John Carlson also scored, and Braden Holtby stopped 33 shots for the Capitals, who were in danger of falling into a nearly insurmountable hole had they let the game slip away.

”We got some good fortune, but we also executed and we were committed today,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said.

Game 4 is Thursday night back here with Game 5 set for Washington on Saturday.

”We got a break [url=http://www.authenticshoustontexans.com/cheap-justin-reid-jersey]Justin Reid Color Rush Jersey[/url] , it’s what we needed,” Capitals forward John Connolly said. ”You need breaks, every team is so good now, you need to keep pressing and pressing. ”

Pierre-Luc Dubois and Artemi Panarin scored for Columbus, and Bobrovsky finished with 42 saves after getting 54 in the Game 2 on Sunday.

Panarin knotted the score 4:12 into the third period after he and Cam Atkinson went back and forth with pinpoint passes before he swiped it past Holtby from the left circle.

That’s the way it stayed until the second overtime.

After a scoreless first period, Wilson got credit for the first Washington goal when he deflected Matt Niskanen’s rising shot 5:52 into the second. The Blue Jackets got a break two minutes later when a goal by Connolly was waved off after a video replay showed he was offside bringing the puck down the ice.

Dubois tied it with 8:42 left in the second when he rifled a shot past Holtby’s glove from the right circle.

Later in the period, with Columbus’ Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Murray both in the penalty box for slashing, Carlson connected with 5:17 left on a one-timer 28 seconds into the 5-on-3.

After feasting on the power play in the first two games, the Blue Jackets failed to score on four tries with a man advantage. The Capitals whiffed on three of their four power plays.

”It’s a hell of a series [url=http://www.billsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-josh-allen-jersey]Bills Josh Allen Jersey[/url] ,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said.

NOTES: The Capitals have outshot the Blue Jackets 133-92 through the first three games. … Washington F Jakub Vrana played in place of Andre Burakovsky, who is out at least through Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury suffered when he was checked into the boards by Blue Jackets F Boone Jenner on Sunday. Vrana was a healthy scratch for that game. … Blue Jackets F Alexander Wennberg missed a second game after being injured in Game 1. Sonny Milano again played in his place. … The announced crowd of 19,337 was the largest ever for a Blue Jackets game. … Washington star Alex Ovechkin appeared in his 100th career playoff game. … Panarin, who had an assist on Dubois’ goal, has eight straight multi-point games. … It was the 22nd time in NHL history that a playoff series went to overtime in at least three consecutive games.

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Follow Mitch Stacy at At the end of a sweltering afternoon, Andrew Knapp kept the Philadelphia Phillies on a red-hot streak.

Knapp hit a game-ending pinch-hit homer just inside the right field foul pole in the 13th inning as the Phillies came from behind to beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 Sunday.

”That was cool,” Knapp said. ”That was a huge team win – huge team series.”

The win was the Phillies third in this four-game set with Washington. All the wins have come by one-run margins. Over the past two weekends, Philadelphia has gone 5-2 against the two-time defending National League East champions, increasing their edge on the Nationals to three games for second place in the division.

”It shows we’re here to stay [url=http://authenticlosangeleschargers.com/cheap-kyzir-white-jersey]Kyzir White Color Rush Jersey[/url] ,” Knapp said. ”Obviously, there’s a lot of games left, and we have to keep playing well. But we’re up there with a lot of those teams. This was a huge series win for us, especially coming off the series win in Washington. They wanted to come here and sweep us. For us to take 3 of 4 was cool.”

The Nationals are now 6-15 in their past 21 games dating back to June 8. Washing[img]http://www.sndpic.com//nike_nfl_jerseys/nike_cleveland_browns/nike_browns_701.jpg[/img]
ton is six games behind Atlanta for the lead in the NL East.

On Sunday, Washington managed only four hits in eight innings against the Philadelphia bullpen, never moving a baserunner past second base in that stretch while striking out seven times.

”We’ve got to start striking out less, putting the balls in play, driving in runs when we have the ability to drive in runs,” Washington manager Davey Martinez said. ”But it’ll turn. Our offense is good. I know it’s good. And I truly believe that it’ll turn around.”

Knapp ended the game when he turned on a Justin Miller fastball and lofted it into the bleachers in right field. Miller (5-1) gave up the run in 1 1/3 innings of work.

Nick Pivetta (5-7) got the win pitching a scoreless inning. Pivetta- normally a starter- was roughed up for seven runs in 1 2/3 innings of work on Friday night. He entered the game as the final pitcher that Philadelphia had available.

”He wanted the opportunity bad [url=http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-saquon-barkley-jersey]http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-saquon-barkley-jersey[/url] ,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. ”I asked him and pushed him to make sure that this is something that he was going to fight for and he did.”

Washington jumped out early, scoring an unearned run in the fourth on an Anthony Rendon sacrifice fly. In the fifth, the lead expanded to 3-0 when Adam Eaton singled to right to score Daniel Murphy and Mark Reynolds.

However, Gio Gonzalez labored in the bottom of the fifth after cruising through the first four innings with only one hit and one walk allowed. He walked three guys in the fifth inning, including Cesar Hernandez with the bases loaded, that put Philadelphia on the board. Rhys Hoskins‘ sacrifice fly to right made it 3-2 then Odubel Herrera singled to score Carlos Santana to tie the game.

GAME NOTES

Knapp became the first Phillie to hit a walk-off, pinch-hit homer since Cody Asche did it back on Sept. 12, 2015 against the Chicago Cubs. Ryan Howard hit the last walk-off homer for Philadelphia back on April 29, 2016. . The Phillies bullpen posted a 0.60 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched on Saturday and Sunday. .. Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez has never allowed more than three earned runs in 14 career starts at Citizens Bank Park. He has tossed five or more innings in every start.

TRAINERS ROOM

Philadelphia placed right-handed starting pitcher Vince Velasquez on the 10-day disabled list on Sunday with a right forearm contusion.

Velasquez was hit in the second inning just below the elbow on a liner back up the middle by Washington’s Adam Eaton. Velasquez would eventually record the out by picking the ball up and throwing it lefthanded to first base to get Eaton to end the inning [url=http://www.authenticsbuffalobills.com/cheap-marshall-newhouse-jersey]Marshall Newhouse Color Rush Jersey[/url] , saving a run from scoring during Philadelphia’s 3-2 victory.

This is the fourth trip to the disabled list for Velasquez in three seasons since Philadelphia acquired him.

In addition to Velasquez’s trip to the disabled list, the Phillies optioned lefthanded reliever Zac Curtis to Triple A Lehigh Valley. They recalled right-handed reliever Jake Thompson and reinstated reliever Pat Neshek from the 10-day disabled list. Neshek, who was signed by the Phillies during the off-season, has been on the disabled list since Opening Day with a forearm injury.

UP NEXT

Nationals: Washington returns home on Monday night to begin a three-game interleague series against the Boston Red Sox. RHP Max Scherzer (10-4, 2.04 ERA) will face former Detroit teammate Rick Porcello in a battle of former Cy Young Award winners.

Phillies: Philadelphia has Monday off, but will begin a brief two-game interleague series at home against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night. Zach Eflin (6-2, 3.02 ERA) will get the start against Baltimore’s Alex Cobb.

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