WASHINGTON — Capital One Arena had been a springtime house of horrors for the Washington Capitals lately. An impressive regular season assured the team home-ice advantage through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but after just the first two games of their first-round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets, it seemed the Capitals would be better off playing away from the District of Columbia. With anxious red-clad fans in the stands, the Capitals had lost Games 1 and 2 at home in overtime to fall into a disastrous hole.

They seemed more at ease on the road, storming back to tie the series before a pivotal Game 5 back in the District on Saturday afternoon. Those same red-clad fans groaned when the puck bounced around in Washington’s end too long. They cheered when Braden Holtby made one spectacular save after another. They threw their hands up in frustration when Sergei Bobrovsky did the same on the other end of the ice.

And then they jumped for joy when Nicklas Backstrom’s stick tipped Dmitry Orlov’s shot at just the right time, deflecting the puck into the Columbus net 11:53 into overtime. The Capitals were jumping with them, the bench clearing as the team celebrated in a corner. With Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win, the Capitals now have a 3-2 series lead and are one win away from advancing to the second round.

“We’ve been playing some good hockey,” said Backstrom, who scored his first two goals of the postseason Saturday. “Hopefully we can bring our confidence to Columbus on Monday.”

Entering Saturday, the Capitals had lost five of their past six home playoff games dating from last season’s second-round, seven-game defeat against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Players had admitted feeling extra pressure playing in front of their home fans. Through regulation, Game 5 had been the worst game Washington had played in the series.

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