Washington crushed, 6-2, by Penguins in Game 7
It was a classic series, the kind hockey fans will talk about for years. The games were thrilling, the stars always at their best. It was deserving of a dramatic finish.
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But this isn’t the movies, as Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin said earlier in the day. In sports those dramatic endings are never guaranteed. So it was on Wednesday night at Verizon Center when one team finally cracked in Game 7 of this chaotic Eastern Conference semifinal series../p>
» Varlamov’s magic runs out in Game 7» New year, same result vs. Pens
Report cardFirst Star Star F Sidney Crosby popped home rebound of Sergei Gonchar shot on first-period PP to get Penguins started. Also fed F Bill Guerin nifty pass that veteran buried for first of back-to-back strikes that cut Caps G Simeon Varlamov’s evening short. Added PP goal in third. Second StarF Evgeni Malkin also enjoyed a successful evening with pair of assists. Provided secondary assist on Crosby’s power-play strike to open scoring and quarterbacked the extra-man unit from the half-wall. Also fed D Kris Letang on the game’s fourth goal. Third StarF Miroslav Satan continued return to form. Banished to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton near end of regular season — and often times a healthy scratch — he provided pair of helpers, including a secondary assist on game’s fourth goal and a primary on fifth. Oops!
Simeon Varlamov’s impressive run derailed at wrong time. Varlamov surrendered four goals on 18 shots before getting hook in favor of deposed Jose Theodore. From the bench» Pittsburgh Coach Dan Bylsma welcomed back a workhorse in Gonchar for Game 7. Gonchar, who absorbed a knee-to-knee collision with Alex Ovechkin early in Game 4, had missed Games 5 and 6. » Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau opted to stick with the same line combinations that proved victorious in Game 6 at Pittsburgh. That included familiar top line of Ovechkin playing with center Nicklas Backstrom and Viktor Kozlov riding shotgun at right wing.— John R. Adams
The Pittsburgh Penguins scored twice in the first period — once on the power play by star forward Sidney Crosby and again just eight seconds later by fourth-line grinder Craig Adams. They controlled the game from then on — adding two quick goals in the second period by Bill Guerin and Kris Letang — cruising to a decisive 6-2 victory and putting an end to Washington’s season.
“I just told him I didn’t want to hit him. I just say I’m sorry. I just explained what happened over there,” Ovechkin said. “We have good relation and I don’t want to hit guys to give an injury.” Asked whether Gonchar accepted his apology, Ovechkin said “Probably. I don’t know. I just have to move forward and shake hands with everybody.”
It was another crushing exit for the Caps, who lost in the first round of the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime. That was also a Game 7 defeat at Verizon Center.
“I think we [were] mentally ready for this game. Everybody understand what can happen if we lose,” said Caps forward Alex Ovechkin, who scored his team’s first goal at 18 minutes, 9 seconds of the second period when the score was already 5-0. “The whole team disappointed right now. Whole team with nothing to say. After first period they scored again right away and that just kill us. They use our mistakes.”
So ends one of the great seasons in franchise history. Washington set a franchise record for points in a season (108), won its second straight Southeast Division title and earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, where it beat the New York Rangers in seven games to win its first playoff series since 1998. But those accomplishments offer little consolation in the wake of a Game 7 drubbing that shocked the sellout crowd.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow. We did a lot of good things this year,” said Caps forward Brooks Laich. “But this game is the way this season will be remembered. And it’s a shame because a lot of our players did a lot of good things. As an organization I thought we did a lot of good things. It’s a sour note to go out on.”
Almost immediately after Crosby’s early power-play goal, the Caps looked shaky — and that included rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov, who gave up two more goals early in the second period before he was pulled for veteran Jose Theodore at 2 minutes, 12 seconds. Varlamov allowed four goals on just 18 shots.
His counterpart, meanwhile, Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, fed some crow to his critics. Mediocre for much of the series, Fleury made a dynamite early save on an Alex Ovechkin breakaway that seemed to unsettle the Caps. He finished with 19 saves on just 21 Washington shots.
Ovechkin finally got the Caps on the board at 18:09 of the second with a wraparound goal. Laich added one in the third when the game was long out of reach. Washington did not draw a single penalty in the contest. Pittsburgh had just two power plays.
It was another tough night for Caps defenseman Mike Green. He was on the ice for three of Pittsburgh goals and none of Washington’s, capping a disappointing postseason for a player who had a brilliant regular season with 31 goals. Green, often Washington’s ice-time leader, spent much of the third period watching from the bench.
“He wasn’t very good. I mean, as great a player as [Green] is he really struggled I thought tonight,” said Boudreau. “And I know Mike really well. When he struggles he puts really a lot of pressure on himself to do better. And so every mistake is magnified in his mind. And I just thought let’s not play him anymore to save himself because he was struggling.”
But while insisting he didn’t want to use injuries as an excuse and take away from Pittsburgh’s win — Boudreau grudgingly admitted that both Green and Ovechkin were playing hurt throughout the postseason. Yet Ovechkin still finished with 21 points in 14 playoff games, including eight goals against Pittsburgh. But in the end, it wasn’t enough. Washington was outshot a combined 34-10 in the first period of both Game 6 and 7. They bounced back the first time. The second proved too much.
“It’s not easy to stand in front of you guys and say that we’ve been outworked in our building in a Game 7. That’s not something that’s easy to say and I’m sure we’re going to have to think about that for a long time,” Laich said. “Winning is a science. You have to learn how to do it. It’s the same as losing. When you lose you learn from it. But it takes a lot to learn how to win. And [Pittsburgh’s] done it before. They went to the finals last year and they’re a very good hockey team. And tonight they just beat us.”
