PENS PERPETUATE CAPS’ NIGHTMARE
Surprise, surprise — a loaded Washington team heads back home after listless defeat
If the Senators are going to get to the Stanley Cup finals, it will be through the front door of the defending champs. Just as it should be, right? Backed by a 29-save shutout from the acrobatic and once forgotten Marc-Andre Fleury, the Pittsburgh Penguins did what usually do by eliminating the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Their 2-0 victory at Verizon Center improved the Penguins record to 4-0 against the Capitals in Game 7s and 9-1 in all-time playoff series against Washington.
The Penguins will now host the Senators in an Eastern Conference final that is expected to start Saturday in Pittsburgh.
“What a story,” Penguins centre Matt Cullen said when asked about the Senators, a team he played 21 games for in the 200910 season. “They’re playing great. Obviously I have a ton of respect for (senior adviser) Bryan Murray. He essentially started my career in Anaheim.
“We’ve watched a lot as a group, when you’re on you watch a lot of hockey … and we’ve just been really impressed with their team. We’ve had some good games with them this year. We know they’re a really dangerous team.”
The Senators and Penguins have met four times in post-season play. The Senators won the first set in five games, in 2007, but then lost the next three, starting with a sweep in 2008 and including 2010 (six games) and 2013 (five games).
The Senators were 2-1-0 in their season series with the Penguins this year. Fleury was not ready to think about facing the Senators after his performance against the Capitals.
“Oh geez. Not yet,” he said. “I’ll be happy to enjoy tonight and think about them tomorrow.”
And the Capitals will fret over yet another lost opportunity.
Washington has not made it past the second round of the playoffs since going to the finals in 1998. Surely, significant changes will be made to a team that cruised to the Presidents’ Trophy with a 55-19-8 record. They might even include Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, the only player on his team to have a minus-2 beside his name.
Asked about Ovechkin’s game, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said “emotionally, I don’t want to answer that right now.”
Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist scored the Pittsburgh goals on Braden Holtby, who made 26 saves.
Fleury took care of business around the Pittsburgh net. Relegated to backup duties when Matt Murray led the Penguins to their Cup win last spring, Fleury took over between the pipes when Murray suffered an undisclosed injury during the warmup of the Penguins first playoff game this spring.
On Wednesday, Murray suited up from the first time since then to serve as backup. What he saw from his spot on the bench is the Penguins outshoot the Capitals for the first time in the series.
After being in a 3-1 series hole and coming back to tie it up, there was a feeling the Capitals would finally get past their nemesis — especially after a convincing 5-2 win on Monday.
“There was such a difference from Game 6, in scoring chances against,” said Fleury. “I thought we did a great job helping out around the net and not giving them too much space.”
Rust, who had a hat trick in an 8-5 win over the Senators in December, scored his sixth goal of the playoffs to break a scoreless tie at 8:49 of the second period.
The Capitals had a chance to clear the zone but the puck was kept in and moved in to Sidney Crosby. He slid a pass to Jake Guentzel, who held on for a second before feeding Rust. His quick shot beat Holtby over the left shoulder.
Fleury’s best save of the game was off a one-timer from Ovechkin in the second period.
Hornqvist put the Penguins up by a pair at the 4:14 mark of the third, right after Ovechkin failed to bear down to get the puck out at the blue line. Hornqvist’s fourth of the post-season was a perfect backhand that went through the legs of Capitals defenceman Nate Schmidt and off the bar past Holtby’s glove.
The Penguins, who defeated the Sharks in a six-game final last season, are not yet playing to the level they’ve believe they can.
Said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan: “This was hands down the best game we’ve played in the playoffs.”
Indeed, it appears as though the defending champs are getting their act together at the right time.