Penguins at Capitals - 12-23-10
PREGAME
-Hey, guess where we are:
-No, not quite:
-Next time you're stuck on the Parkaway East, be thankful you don't live in this city. The traffic in Washington makes Pittsburgh's seem like a race track.
-Eventually, we made it to the Verizon Center:
-As usual, there were more than a few friendlies around:
-The ice:
-The Zamboni gate is kind of a maze to get to so we skipped running down there for our pre-game photo.
-Some jersey sightings. Matt Cooke:
-Lots of Winter Classic gear on sale here:
-Donald Brashear:
-Peter Bondra:
-Rod La _ _ _ ay:
-Sidney Crosby is as popular as ever:
-And Canada too:
-Huh? A Kings fan?
-Maxime Talbot and Mike Rupp:
-We bet these twins have a complicated relation:
-Former Penguin and Capital Jaromir Jagr:
-Andrei Nikolishin:
-A Nicklas B _ _ _ _ _ rom Team Sweden:
-Al Iafrate:
-We have no idea:
-Evgeni Malkin Magnitogorsk:
-Steven Stamkos Lighting?
-We would've gotten a better picture of this Paul Coffey fan, but she was running up the steps as fast as he skated:
-Joe Juneau:
-Olaf Kolzig:
-And the Red Wings are represented here as well:
-Warm ups:
-The Penguins' starters are Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Kris Letang, Brooks Oprik and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-Their scratches are Arron Asham, Dustin Jeffrey, Brent Johnson and Ben Lovejoy.
-The Capitals' starters are Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Knuble, Brooks Laich, Karl Alzner, John Carlson and Michal Neuvirth.
-Their scratches are Matt Bradley and Matt Hendricks.
-The Capitals all wish happy holidays through a video on the video board. Owner Ted Leonsis does as well, we assume if you have a 412 area code, you're not allowed to accept those well wishes.
-The national anthem:
FIRST PERIOD
19:29: After Brooks Orpik tags John Carlson with a stiff shoulder check, Brooks Laich moves in with a backhander from the slot. Fleury denies him.
19:12: Ovechkin is ready to play as he runs over Malkin and Zbynek Michalek in the right wing corner in the Penguins' zone. This place goes nuts With a stoppage in play, Cooke and John Erskine mix it up until an official tackles Cooke to the ice. Both Cooke and Erskine get roughing minors. Four on four for two minutes.
18:50: Malkin takes out Ovechkin in the Capitals zone away from the puck. That's two minutes for interference. Not a smart penalty. Four on three for 1:39. Craig Adams, Cooke and Talbot take the ice.
18:10: Ovechkin cranks a one-timer from the top of the slot. Fleury knocks it down and covers.
17:52: Alexander Semin grips and rips a wrister from the slot. Orpik flops down and appears to block it.
17:24: Semin pumps a slapper on net from the left circle. Fleury fends it off.
17:12: The minors to Cooke and Erskine expire. The Capitals still have a
17:00: Green cranks a slapper from the left point. Fleury appears to stop it.
16:46: Crosby lugs the puck up the right wing to boos.
16:39: And Crosby shuts them up. Well at least the ones not in Penguins gear. Letang winds up and cracks a slapper from the left point wide to the near side, presumably on purpose. Crosby is positioned to the side of the cage and deflects it with his stick by Neuvirth's glove hand. Can we start calling that the "Crosby Play?" Letang and Malkin get assists. Penguins 1-0.
(These Penguins fans juuuust sat down as soon as we snapped the picture. Trust us.)
13:10: Semin cranks a slapper off a deflected puck off the left wing. It appears to hit Letang in a... uh... sensitive spot.... and drops him immediately. Some Capitals fans cheer the apparent injury then booing Letang once he recovers to his skates and heads to the bench. You stay classy Washington.
12:40: Chris Conner is nabbed for interfering with Neuvirth. Pascal Dupuis Orpik, Michalek and Adams take the ice.
12:28: Knuble has a chance right on the doorstep but can't quite put it by Fleury who is stretched out in the crease and denies a shot with his glove.
12:01: Another tough spot here for the Penguins as Michalek clears the puck out of play. That's two minute for delay of game. The Penguins will have 1:21 of a five on three to kill off. Cooke, Adams and Orpik are charged with the difficult task.
11:25: Cooke blocks a one-timer by Ovechkin at the left point then backhands the puck down ice for a clear. Huge play.
11:13: The Capitals head to the box as Laich sets a pick on Talbot. That's interference. The Capitals have a four on three for 33 seconds.
10:40: Conner's minor expires. Four-on-four for 39 seconds.
10:24: Ovechkin puts a laser on net from above the left circle. Fleury snags it with a nice glove save.
10:01: The Michalek minor expires. The Penguins will have a five on four for 48 seconds.
9:13: Laich's minor expires. The Penguins were really hesitant with their limited power play time.
8:30ish: Semin challenges Paul Martin one-on-one on the right wing in the Penguins' zone. Martin pokes the puck away to Letestu who leads a transition up ice.
6:10: Jay Beagle has a wrister from the right circle blocked by Deryk Engelland.
6:01: Beagle recovers the puck, circles around the back of the net and whips a wrister from a tough angle on the left wing. Fleury makes the easy save.
5:23: Rupp smacks Mike Green with a high hit below the Capitals' goal line along the boards. Green seems a bit stunned.
4:25: Semin challenges Letang in the left faceoff circle in the Penguins' zone. Letang holds him and appears to get away with a hold.
2:55: After a turnover by Letang in the Capitals' zone, Ovechkin rips a wrister from the slot in the Penguins' zone over the cage.
1:05: Dupuis winds up and cranks a slapper on net from above the left circle. Neuvirth knocks it down and covers.
0:33: Ovechkin sticks his buddy Talbot into the boards in front of the scorers' booth with a stiff shoulder check.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 1, Capitals 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-Well that was pretty much your typical period of Penguins-Capitals. Plenty of skating. Plenty of hitting. And plenty of holding your breath anytime a shot is released.
-The Capitals were really aggressive but the Penguins have been outstanding defensively. They're almost playing like the Canadiens in the playoffs last season when they collapsed around their own net and clogged up shooting or passing lanes.
-Discipline has been a bit of an issue for the Penguins as they have taken four penalties.
-The Penguins really didn't mount much of a sustained offensive attack that period. They had some sporadic chances, but didn't really maintain anything.
-Fleury has been solid so far.
-Ovechkin has been really aggressive with his shot selection and physical play.
-The Capitals lead in shots, 12-6.
-Who else but Ovechkin would lead the game with four shots?
-Crosby leads the Penguins with two.
-Orpik leads the game with 9:00 of ice time.
-Ovechkin leads the Capitals with 8:20.
-The Capitals have a 14-13 edge in faceoffs (52 percent).
-Backstrom is 6 for 11 (55 percent).
-Letestu is 5 for 7 (52 percent).
-The Penguins already have 11 blocked shots.
-Adams leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Backstrom leads the Capitals with two.
SECOND PERIOD
18:37: Malkin takes a pass in the neutral zone and flies in on net. Green is trailing and hooks Malkin into the net dislodging it. An official points at center ice to signal penalty shot. Malkin takes some time to re-tie his skate. He takes the puck at center ice, weaves slightly to the left and approaches the net. He deks to his backhand and puts a shot on net but fails to lift it enough as Neuvirth is able to stretch to his right and deny with a glove. Malkin just stinks at penalty shots/shootouts. Capitals fans respond with "Neeeeuuuu-Veeeee!" chants.
17:35: A Capital airmails a slapper from the neutral zone in front of his bench. Fleury reaches up to glove it but biffs on it slightly. The puck trickles wide. Lots of "oooohhhhs" are heard.
15:49: After a turnover by Godard the Penguins in their own zone, Mathieu Perreault moves in on net and puts a gentle little backhander on net. Fleury does a snow angel in the crease and holds it out.
15:02: Fleury fends off a chance in tight by Laich off a rebound. Goligoski is nabbed for hooking Laich. Adams, Orpik, Michalek and Cooke take the ice. Capitals are controlling play this period in the Penguins' zone.
13:16: Green snaps off a wrister from the right point. Fleury makes the save but allows a rebound. Perreault has a chance but c
12:46: Crosby flies up ice with the puck wild fending off a check from Carlson. As Carlson dives and misses on a poke check, Crosby pushs a puck on net. Neuvirth makes the save as Carlson crashes into the net and dislodges it. Crosby protests a non-call by officials. Carlson may have got him in the face with his stick. Capitals fans begin a "Crosby _____!" chant.
10:40: Fehr has a chance off a feed to the slot but he's juuuuust a step slow and misses the puck completely.
9:38: If you can believe us, Godard actually made a nice defensive play on Ovechkin by back checking and breaking up a pass.
8:27: With the Penguins taking their fourth icing call in roughly two minutes, Dan Bylsma calls a time out to give his team a rest.
8:18: And the Penguins take another penalty. This is going to bite them eventually putting the Capitals on the man advantage this many times. Rupp is called for hooking Green. Orpik, Michalek, Talbot, Cooke take the ice.
8:09: Cooke whips the puck all the way down ice from his goal line out of play in the Capitals' zone. That's two minutes for delay of games. The Capitals are going to have 1:51 of a two man advantage. Yeesh. Oprik, Talbot and Adams take the ice.
7:28: Semin weakly shuffles the puck into the crease from the left wing and allows Fleury to freeze play. Kind of a silly play.
6:52: Ovechkin pumps a show from the left point wide. A defender flops down and forced him to shoot that wide.
6:17: That was going to happen eventually. Just as the Rupp minor is killed, Semin deals the puck from the left circle to Green in the slot. Green picks his spot and rips a wrister by Fleury's glove hand. The Penguins were going to pay at some point. Semin and Backstrom get assists. Back to five on five. Capitals 1, Penguins 1.
2:59: Malkin picks off a pass in his own zone and leads a rush up ice creating a two-on-one with Kunitz against Alzner. Alzner defends the pass but Malkin is able to feed a pass over to Kunitz but the pass it too hard and Kunitz can't get a stick on it. As he crashes into the boards, he's kind of shoved by Ovechkin. Officials call Ovechkin for tripping. That's a pretty bad call. The Penguins got a gift there. Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz, Letang and Martin take the ice.
0:59: The Ovechkin minor is killed. The Capitals completely dominated that two minutes.
0:29: Ovechkin challenges Goligoski off the left wing and rips a wrister wide on the far side.
0:00: End of period. Capitals 1, Penguins 1.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-The Penguins are not playing their game. They're sitting back and absorbing the Washington attack. Wave after wave. And it was pretty effective game plan until the Penguins finally took one too many penalties. But this is not the way Dan Bylsma usually wants his team to play.
-Frankly, the Penguins are lucky this is a tie game. They have been far too passive.
-When did the Penguins become the Philadelphia Flyers? Way too many penalties.
-Evgeni Malkin needs to wake up. He's forcing bad passes and passing up on shooting opportunities.
-Fleury has been outstanding so far.
-Tom Poti left the game with an undisclosed injury. He may return.
-The Capitals control shots, 25-12.
-Green leads the game with five.
-Crosby leads the Penguins with three.
-Orpik leads the game with 16:24 of ice time.
-Ovechkin is right behind him with 16:23.
-The Penguins lead in faceoffs, 26-22 (54 percent).
-Letestu is 10 for 13 (77 percent).
-David Steckel is 5 for 5 (100 percent).
-Michalek, Engelland, Adams, Letang and Backstrom each lead the game with three blocked shots.
THIRD PERIOD
19:43: And before everyone can get back back to their seats, the Penguins strike. Crosby cuts into the offensive zone, pushes his way by Alzner and shoves a backhander on net from the goal line on the left wing. Neuvirth makes the save but allows a hideous rebound. The Capitals defenders fail to clear. Kunitz jumps on it and pushes it into the net with a backhander. Crosby and Martin get assists. Penguins 2-1.
19:13: A rought start to his period for the Capitals as Mathieu Perreault hauls down Letang behind the Penguins' net. Malkin, Crosby, Kunitz, Letang and Martin take the ice.
18:36: A half slapper by Letang in the left circle hits a body in front and is cleared.
17:11: As the Perreault minor is killed, Letestu has a back door chance from the left circle blocked by Green.
16:06: Orpik wipes out Perreault with a hit in the left wing corner in the Penguins' zone.
15:18: Scott Hannan has a slapper from the left poitn blocked by Adams.
13:33: Ovechkin has a chance on net as he sneaks in off the left wing but Orpik is in the right position and pokes the puck away in the slot. Ovechkin looks up in frustration.
12:26: Martin pumps a loose puck on net from the left point towards the net. It appears to hit a body in front.
10:39: After a pretty lengthy delayed penalty, Backstrom is sent off for high sticking Rupp in the neutral zone. A goal here could ice this game. Malkin, Orpik, Martin, Crosby and Kunitz take the ice.
9:09: Letang prevents a clear attempt at the right point. He winds up and blasts a slapper wide on the far sid.e
8:39: The Backstrom minor is killed without much of a threat from the Penguins.
7:21: Engelland tees off a one-timer from the right point which clanks off some iron.
6:45: Fehr is denied down low by Fleury.
6:36: Crosby has a backhander denied from the right circle by Neuvirth. Perreault is sent off for hooking. Crosby, Malkin, Martin, Letang and Kunitz take the ice. Again, a goal here could ice this. That stupid Tom Green "Unleash the Fury!" video is played:
-At least one Penguins fan tries to combat it with a Terrible Towel:
5:29: And the Penguins' train wreck of a power play bites them. And who else but Mike Knuble would be the one who ties this game? Letang fumbles a puck in the neutral zone. that allows Brooks Laich to moves it up ice on the right wing. As Letang dives on a poke check, Laich backhands a pass to the neutral zone for Knuble. Knuble fends off pressure from Goligoski and pushes a backhander through Fleury to tie the game. Ugh. Laich gets the only assist. Mike Yeo should get one even if he's in the AHL now. Capitals 2, Penguins 2.
4:45: "FLERRRR..... EEEEEEE..... FLERRRR..... EEEEEEE....."
4:36: The Perreault minor is killed.
3:53: Cutting inside Letang in the left circle, Ovechkin rips a wrister to the far side. Fleury gloves it. Orpik and Ovechkin exchange a few love taps.
2:45: Green makes a nice play behind his own net and takes the puck off Crosby along the boards.
1:21: Orpik stands up Ovechkin inside the Penguins' blue line with a stiff shoulder check.
1:10: A wrister by Hannan from the top of the slot is deflected high.
0:34: Malkin on with Crosby and Kunitz, takes a pass from Crosby inside the Penguins' blue line, carries it through the neutral zone, gains the offensive zone, cuts behind Carlson and whips a low wrister from the right wing. Neuvirth knocks it dead and covers.
0:00: End of period. Capitals 2, Penguins 2.
THIRD INTERMISSION
-The Capitals have a 30-23 lead in shots.
OVERTIME
3:54: Marcus Johansson challenges Martin one-on-one on the right in in the Penguins' zone. Martin pokes it away.
3:31: Ovechkin challenges Michalek one-on-one off the left wing. He cuts to the slot. Michalek follows him and knocks the puck away.
3:00: Letestu forces a turnover in his own zone. He pushes it up the left wing as Kennedy drives to the net. Letestu taps a feed to the slot. Kennedy crashes into the crease. Neuvirth holds the puck out.
2:36: Green makes a crazy rush to the Penguins' net by deking through a few defender. He appears to deke Fleury out of his pads. and has him beat ont he forehand but Fleury reaches back and gloves the puck along the ice. Fleury's glove goes over the line briefly before he pulls it back. No goal is called. The Capitals protest. Eventually the officials go to video review. After a lengthy review, officials announce there is no evidence on the replay to overturn the call. That's the right call by the officials. The puck may have went in, but there's nothing definitive to show it.
2:05: Alzner is in deep on the left wing and pushes a backhander on net. Fleury holds it out.
1:07: Orpik rattles Green with a hit along the boards behind the Penguins' net.
0:47: Semin gains the offensive zone on the right wing and pumps a long distance slapper on net. Fleury reaches up and gloves it.
0:06: A slapper by Orpik from the left poitn is blocked.
0:02: Michalek recovers the puck and whips a last second wrister from the right wing. Nothing doing.
0:00: End of period. Capitals 2, Penguins 2.
-HBO must be happy.
SHOOTOUT
-Ovechkin is first up. He winds to the left slightly, moves towards the net and lifts a backhander by Fleury's blocker. Capitals 1-0.
-Letang gets the call for the Penguins. He weaves in on net, attacks the net, dekes to his forehand and lifts a wrister by Neuvirth's glove hand. Capitals 1, Penguins 1.
-Semin goes right at Fleury. He dekes to his backhand and whiffs on his shot puttting it wide.
-Crosby glides in on net and snaps off a wrister which Neuvirth bats away with his glove hand.
-Backstrom takes the same approach as Crosby and gets the same result. His wrister is knocked away by Fleury's glove.
-Malkin? Uh. Okay. he moves in, goes to the backhand and puts it off the right post.
-Knuble gets the call. He moves in, winds up and puts a half slapper on net. Fleury fends it off with his glove.
-Letestu weaves in, shoots five hole and is denied by Neuvirth.
-Laich goes after Fleury's glove hand with a wrister and is denied.
-Kunitz. You know we're getting deep now. He moves in with speed and snaps off a low wrister. Neuvirth holds it out with his right leg.
-Perreault comes in with hesitation and kind of just runs the puck into Fleury who holds it out.
-Kennedy? Yeesh. He comes in, fakes a wrister and goes to his backhand. He trips up before he can shoot. Ick.
-Green flies in, jams up Fleury and has the left of the cage open but can't lift it by Fleury's left leg.
-Dupuis goes wide to his right moves in and snaps a wrister by Neuvirth's glove hand. End of shootout. Penguisn 2-1. End of game. Penguins 3-2.
POSTGAME
-That was pretty much your typical Penguins-Capitals game. Skating. Hitting. Shooting. Intensity. Regardless of which team you were rooting for, you were holding your breath on each and every shot. Every time one of the captains led a rush up ice, you tensed up a bit. This was entertainment at it's finest.
-We still don't know how the Penguins' won this game. They did not play a good game. They abandoned a lot of what they normally do in terms of puck possession and time in the offensive zone and played a passive game where they collapsed around their net and tried to take away as many clean shots as possible. This was not Dan Bylsma hockey.
-Fleury was the star of the game for the Penguins. He faced plenty of heat from the likes of Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin and others. He came up with some big saves, especially that one on Green in overtime which was reviewed. And the only player who beat him in the shootout is a two-time MVP.
-Regarding Fleury, Green said, "He might not have seen them. He's so quick. It's incredible. he won then the game. He made a lot of great saves. I think we had 35 or close to 40 shots and he played well."
-They got a few make-up calls late, but the Penguins discipline was atrocious tonight. They took too many sloppy penalties and gave the Capitals too many chances. Yes, the Capitals' offense is struggling, but you can't give any team that many opportunites on the man advantage.
-Malkin had his worst game since returning from injury. He was run over by Ovechkin early and just never seemed to get on track.
-Michalek and Martin each showed why the Penguins spent a ton of cash on them in the offseason. The fended away numberous rushes into the offensive zone by the Capitals and played a significant role in the Penguins' ability to limit the quality of scoring chances the Capitals had.
-The Penguins' power play was a complete wreck tonight going 0 for 5 while allowing a shorthanded goal.
-As much as we rip the guy, Mike Green might've been the best skater on the ice tonight. He's always strong in the offensive zone, but he impressed us quite a bit in the defensive zone winning a few one-on-one battles along the wall, including a few with Crosby.
-The Capitals defense played pretty well especially considering Tom Poti left the game early and didn't return. The remaining five all had to pick up some minutes.
-Ovechkin seems like he's forcing things too much. He wants to score so badly, but he's squeezing saw dust (or graphite dust these days we suppose) out of his stick. He was definite a force tonight, but he wasn't the same threat as he usually is.
-The Penguins' last win against the Capitals? 6-2:
-The Capitals controlled shots, 34-27.
-Green and Malkin each led the game with six shots.
-Green led the game with 34:03.
-Letang led the Penguins with 27:26.
-The Penguins had a 37-34 edge in faceoffs (52 percent).
-Steckel was 13 for 17 (76 percent).
-Letestu was 12 for 17 (71 percent).
-Green and Martin each led the game with five blocked shots.
-Letang (110) moved past Wayne Bianchin (109) and Petr Sykora (109) for 69th place on the team's all-time scoring list.
-With 73 points, Kunitz is one point away from breaking into the the Penguins' top 100 career scorers.
-The last time the Penguins shut out Ovechkin was a 4-3 Capitals win at Mellon Arena, Oct. 16, 2008. That was the game Malkin and Ovechkin butted heads:
{youtube width="480" height="385"}IZkPn9kjRFE{/youtube}