Pens in charge after chasing Holtby
Pittsburgh’s dominant win in Washington puts Capitals in tough spot, down 2-0 in series
WASHINGTON — With just over 14 minutes left in Game 2, the Pittsburgh Penguins calmly congregated at their bench while just about everyone else in the building stewed.
The referees were reviewing an Evgeni Malkin goal that was initially waved off for goaltender interference. The Verizon Center crowd awaited the upcoming decision, which would decide whether the Capitals would have a fighting chance or slump into another threegoal hole.
Soon the latter was confirmed and the arena was filled with half-hearted boos. The Penguins lightly celebrated the fifth goal of a 6-2 win that delivered a 2-0 lead in this second-round Stanley Cup playoff series ahead of Monday’s Game 3 in Pittsburgh. Their tempered reaction was a microcosm of a performance that was imperfect in producing a perfect result.
“I mean, in the playoffs it’s not always going to be perfect,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who finished with two assists after scoring twice in Game 1. “I think when you look at our starts it’s an area we need to get better in. I think it’s pretty clear, it’s obvious, especially after tonight. But other than that I think we’ve done some good things.”
The start was the only stain on the Penguins’ win.
The Capitals finished with 16 shots on goal in the first period while the Penguins had just five. The Capitals had 35 total shot attempts to the Penguins’ eight. The Capitals won 15 of 20 faceoffs. The Capitals went on two power plays after the Penguins didn’t allow one in the entirety of Game 1.
But the Capitals did not score, and that will hold as the most important take-away from a period with which the Penguins weren’t pleased.
“I don’t think you want to do that consistently,” Crosby said of starting slow. “I don’t think you’re giving yourself a great chance to win doing that. We’ve got to be better in that area. I think it’s normal that a team comes out at home and there’s a push early, but we’ve got to find a way to not allow that to be for a certain length of time.”
Then the Penguins went from stumbling to sprinting, starting with Matt Cullen’s short-handed goal at the start of the second. That was the first of six goals that showed how multi-faceted the Penguins’ offence is: The next one came on a wrist shot from Phil Kessel, Jake Guentzel scored on a rush created by a Crosby blocked shot, Kessel scored on a power play, Malkin scored the deflection goal, and Guentzel punctuated the victory with an empty-netter in the final minute.
The third goal of the second period led the Capitals to replace Braden Holtby with Philipp Grubauer at the start of the third period. Meanwhile, Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was turning in his second consecutive convincing performance, stifling the Capitals in that first period and finishing with 24 saves. The Penguins made the most of 24 shots on goal and scored their first four on 18 attempts.
Top-line forward Patric Hornqvist exited the game in the first period after blocking a John Carlson shot, and Penguins coach Mike Sullivan did not have an update on his health after the game. Sullivan mostly filled that hole with Conor Sheary, who was on the second line after Carl Hagelin returned from a lower-body injury.
But Kessel, who double-shifted on the second and third lines for much of the night, scored his first goal with Crosby’s group. His two goals were a picture of offensive versatility, and Guentzel’s two scores gave him seven in seven career post-season appearances.
“It makes us a dangerous team,” Fleury said of the Penguins’ balanced and opportunistic offence. “We don’t need to generate that many shots and still get good scoring chances.”
The Penguins continued a team tradition of covering the visiting locker-room with small posters these last three days. The signs remind the players to play fast, play physical and, above all else, play like Penguins.
On Saturday, that meant weathering a scorching start from the Capitals, making the most of limited scoring chances and deflating Verizon Center as if they were popping a balloon. And now they are in position to finish off the Capitals in Pittsburgh and make it so those signs don’t need to be hung again next week.
“Obviously it’s nice to get the first two, but there’s a reason it’s a seven-game series,” Kessel said. “We’ve got to keep battling and keep playing good hockey. They’re a great team over there and they’re sure going to put up a fight.”
“We’ve got to keep battling and keep playing good hockey.” — PHIL KESSEL PITTSBURGH PENGUINS