The Washington Capitals were feeling pretty good about themselves heading into Monday night's game against their rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins. Not anymore.

The Caps blew a 3-0 lead in a crazy game, eventually losing 8-7 in overtime after coming back from 5-3 and 7-5 deficits.

Washington forward Justin Williams, who scored his 15th of the season, doesn't want to watch tape of the game, but believes lessons can be learned from the loss.

"Tonight was a good reality check just to say, 'You know what? You're not that good,'" Williams said, according to CSN's Tarik El-Bashir. "You still got to work for things.

"We came back multiple times," Williams added. "I'm proud of us for that. But again, crappy game."

Head coach Barry Trotz will take the point after his team allowed eight goals.

"We got a point and we probably didn't deserve to get a point, but we got one," he said.

The Caps remain atop the Metropolitan Division with 64 points, but Columbus has 62 and two games in hand. The Penguins moved to within five points of Washington with a game in hand.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins certainly weren't at a loss for words following Monday's 8-7 overtime victory over the Washington Capitals.

"This was kind of a wacky one," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said postgame. "Our mindset was right though. Desperation and winning battles all pays off at the end."

The Penguins scored five straight goals in the second period, a frame in which both clubs combined for nine.

"That second period (was) one of the craziest periods I’ve been associated with," Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters, according to Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I don’t even know how to assess it."

Related: Twitter explodes during insane 9-goal 2nd period between Caps, Pens

Evgeni Malkin notched a hat trick in the win, and noted afterward that the game was enjoyable, but not for everybody.

"It's fun for the forwards, but not the goalies," Malkin said.

Penguins netminder Matt Murray and Capitals goalie Braden Holtby likely agreed.

It was the first time an NHL game featured 15 or more combined goals in more than five years, and Murray earned a unique distinction for coming out on top.

The Penguins fell behind 3-0 before rallying with the aforementioned five-goal outburst that turned the game into a track meet. Sullivan seemed happy with the team's response.

"I think the thing we’re most pleased about is the resilience," the head coach said.

"That could have turned into a rout quickly," he added. "And it didn’t. I give our guys a ton of credit for that."

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How'd he do that?

Edmonton Oilers winger Jordan Eberle was presented with a prime opportunity to score his first goal since Dec. 6, only to see Mike Smith of the Arizona Coyotes snag the puck with his glove and thwart the breakaway opportunity.

Save some for All-Star weekend, Mr. Smith.

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What a game.

The final meeting of the regular season between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals proved to be well worth watching, with a handful of the game's 15 goals scored in spectacular fashion.

Here's a look the best five, in chronological order:

Ovi checkin'

Alex Ovechkin took out two Penguins behind the net and gave T.J. Oshie the opportunity to feed Nicklas Backstrom with a spicy backhand dish.

Williams feeling it

Justin Williams kept up his recent point-per-game pace by fending off Ian Cole's defensive attempts and firing the puck past Matt Murray.

Crosby's slap pass

Sidney Crosby appeared to be winding up for a shot, but managed to float the puck between the defender's legs and right onto Conor Sheary's stick.

Malkin's 2nd of 3

Evgeni Malkin recorded his 11th career hat trick in under 11 minutes during the second period. The second of the three was particularly impressive.

Sheary returns the favor

Sheary wanted to make sure Crosby got in on the scoring action, and set up the captain with a picture perfect cross-ice pass.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

What a game.

The final meeting of the regular season between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals proved to be well worth watching, with a handful of the game's 15 goals scored in spectacular fashion.

Here's a look the best five, in chronological order:

Ovi checkin'

Alex Ovechkin took out two Penguins behind the net and gave T.J. Oshie the opportunity to feed Nicklas Backstrom with a spicy backhand dish.

Williams feeling it

Justin Williams kept up his recent point-per-game pace by fending off Ian Cole's defensive attempts and firing the puck past Matt Murray.

Crosby's slap pass

Sidney Crosby appeared to be winding up for a shot, but managed to float the puck between the defender's legs and right onto Conor Sheary's stick.

Malkin's 2nd of 3

Evgeni Malkin recorded his 11th career hat trick in under 11 minutes during the second period. The second of the three was particularly impressive.

Sheary returns the favor

Sheary wanted to make sure Crosby got in on the scoring action, and set up the captain with a picture perfect cross-ice pass.

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Game of the year. Season, too.

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Capitals 8-7 in overtime Monday, ending Washington's nine-game winning streak in what can only be described as a throwback game to a bygone era.

Here's what you need to know about a game that saw the teams score a combined 13 goals in the final 40 minutes and 34 seconds:

• Evgeni Malkin registered his 11th career hat trick, all three of his goals coming in the zany second period.
• Sidney Crosby finished with a goal and two assists, reaching the half-century mark in points and tying Connor McDavid for the NHL scoring lead (though McDavid's in action Monday night as well).

Conor Sheary scored the overtime winner on Pittsburgh's 36th shot of the night. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin finished with three points, Malkin recording a hat trick in a crazy second period that saw the teams score a combined nine goals.

More to come.

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Evgeni Malkin continues to prove he belongs in the "best player in hockey" conversation.

The Pittsburgh Penguins center recorded the 11th hat trick of his career in Monday's game against Washington, putting himself in sole possession of second in points among all NHL players this season behind only Connor McDavid.

The second goal in particular - at the 30-second mark in the video below - displayed the kind of skill he possesses, and resulted in the end of Braden Holtby's night.

All three goals were scored in a frenetic second period against Pittsburgh, and in short order at that.

It was the first time he's scored three goals in a period other than the last.

The hat trick gives Malkin 21 goals on the season and eight in his past eight games.

(Video courtesy: NHL.com)

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Best second period ever.

It was 2-0 for the Washington Capitals over the Pittsburgh Penguins after 20 minutes. It was 6-5 for the Pens after 40.

The middle 20 minutes Monday night were insane, and here are some of the best Twitter reactions:

They're even watching in London, England:

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Sidney Crosby saw Jonathan Drouin's pass and raised him one.

Related: Drouin sets up Johnson's goal with nasty move, incredible pass

Crosby helped create Conor Sheary's goal Monday night against the Washington Capitals, faking a shot and feathering a sublime dish through defenseman Karl Alzner's legs to Sheary, who deflected it in for the second of five straight Penguins goals in the middle stanza.

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The thing is, the Tampa Bay Lightning don't have time for Ben Bishop to get back into form.

The Lightning began a very crucial stretch of their schedule Monday, defeating the Kings 2-1 in Los Angeles, the first of six games on the road that will take them through California, Arizona, to Chicago, and back to Florida to face the Panthers. And Bishop was stellar, ensuring the trip began on a high note, even though All-Star Victor Hedman was forced to miss the game with an illness.

Playing in his second game since returning from a lower-body injury, Bishop stopped 31 of 32 shots. He's 2-0 in the new year and has stopped 55 of 58 shots, good for a .948 save percentage. The strong games have Bishop back at .910 on the season.

Tampa Bay went into Monday's game ranked 25th in the league with a .903 team save percentage. The Lightning's goaltending must be better for Tampa Bay to get back into the playoffs.

Last year's Eastern Conference finalists are 21-20-4, and their 46 points trail the Toronto Maple Leafs' 48 for third place in the Atlantic Division. Problem is, Toronto has four games in hand.

With the Metropolitan Division on another level, and both wild-card teams likely to come from the division, Tampa Bay must catch Toronto or the Boston Bruins, who have 51 points but have played a conference-high 47 games.

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