Caps 6, Pittsburgh Penguins 3
Can they all be like this? Please? The Caps and Penguins put on another entertaining show Thursday night at Mellon Arena. Washington took control in the third period and grabbed a 6-3 win. But this one was back-and-forth for much of the night. Pittsburgh scored first, taking advantage of a Jose Theodore stickhandling mistake. The Caps went up 2-1. The Penguins regained the lead at 3-2. The second period was a blast – players on both sides unloading on each other as the intensity level spiked.
The key? Well, Bruce Boudreau said earlier this week that special teams would be so, so important in a game like this. How about his team killing off all four Penguins power plays and scoring on its only two extra-man chances? Washington needed 36 seconds after the first Pittsburgh penalty and 26 seconds after the second one to make it pay for those transgressions. Add an empty-net goal from Ovechkin, who scored twice, and there you have it. One note: Obviously, Pittsburgh’s third goal from Kris Letang was a power-play marker for all intents and purposes. The Caps penalty killers were dead tired when he ripped a shot over Theodore’s left shoulder one second after a John Carlson penalty expired. Great passing from the Pens during that sequence. But still – Boudreau will take 1-for-4 on the PK almost every time against a power-play unit that scary.
We all know this game means little in the grand scheme of things. The Caps did go 3-0-1 against Pittsburgh last regular season, after all, and in the playoffs that didn’t matter. But I don’t really see how it would help things if they went 1-2-1 or 2-2 against Pittsburgh this year, either. A win is still a win. And while that game was far from perfect on either side, Washington went on the road against an elite team and put its stamp on the game in the third period. That’s still a big deal.
Some national media folks have written that Ovechkin, as a new captain, needs to show he can be as mature a leader as Crosby if the Caps want to push beyond the second-round playoff appearance they had last spring. That’s probably true. But I’d say giving your veteran goalie a pep talk after he gives up a horrendous goal early in the game is a good start. Jose Theodore looked like he needed it after he misplayed the puck and the Penguins eventually poked it home. Crosby’s goal was shot No. 2 of the game and made it 1-0. But Theodore settled down and stopped 34 of the next 36 that Pittsburgh fired his way. At the other end, former Cap Brent Johnson gave up five goals on 33 shots.
The Caps improved to 32-12-6 with 70 points overall. Just a few years ago they would have called it a season at that point. Now? They’re headed for 100+ for the second year in a row. They have won five straight and eight of nine overall. It was their fourth regular-season win at the house of horrors that is Mellon Arena. And they now have an NHL-best 191 goals and are on pace for 313.
Caps Notes
» Mike Knuble scored goal No. 14 and Eric Fehr had No. 13 – besting his career-high set last year. Tomas Fleischmann now has 17. This team could have eight or nine 20-goal scorers by season’s end. No one in the league will come close.
» Ovechkin recorded his 250th career goal in the second period and later added an empty-netter. He has 32 on the season – still one behind Sidney Crosby (33), who opened the scoring for Pittsburgh – and 36 assists. He’s trying to take over the NHL points lead with 68 right now. With three points tonight, Ovechkin creeps ever closer to Henrik Sedin of Vancouver in eight fewer games played. Only Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux scored at least 250 goals through their first five NHL seasons.
» All that offense and Caps defenseman Mike Green (12 goals, 38 assists) didn’t even play thanks to an undisclosed injury. Washington’s power play adjusted nicely without him. Ice time for defensemen was kept pretty even. Tom Poti led the way with 22:27. Jeff Schultz was right behind (22:04). But even John Carlson (17:43) and Tyler Sloan (16:32) pitched in. Shaone Morrisonn played 20:02. More interesting – he had two assists after posting just four through the first 49 games. Morrisonn was a +3 on the night.
» Congrats to rookie defenseman John Carlson for his first NHL point – a nice pass to Alex Semin, who made an even better one to teammate Tomas Fleischmann streaking past the Pittsburgh blueliners for an easy goal. Fleischmann had a two-point night and now has 33 total.
» Biggest goal of the game in my opinion came from Nick Backstrom on the power play at 3:25 of the third period. Just a nice, patient move behind Brent Johnson’s net to sneak one past. That’s No. 21 for Backstrom – one shy of last year’s career-best total. That one made it 5-3 and gave the Caps some breathing room down the stretch.
