Penguins Get Help in Win Over Caps
Jonathan Farzalo | Pittsburgh Penguins
Mar 9, 04:03 PM | Hype this story!
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| Summary |
| What started out as Crosby vs Ovechkin, and as I said
I’m not a fan of it, quickly turned into Pittsburgh vs Washington, and
that’s how it should be. These are two teams on different
missions right now, one, Pittsburgh, is a near lock for a playoff
spot, while Washington is sitting on the outside looking in.
From the drop of the puck this game was physical, and at first it
really looked like the officials were going to let the teams play, but
that all changed in the 2nd period where 6 total penalties were
called. The story was more of the same for the Pens, lack of production on the powerplay (0-5), and what can really only be called lack of chemistry at even strength. The chemistry bothers me less, as it will come, with Crosby still fresh off his injury, players are readjusting. However, all lines looked to be pushing hard and trying to win every battle…I even saw Ryan Whitney get physical and take the hit to make a play. No really, I swear. The first period was extremely back and forth and it really had the look and feel of a playoff match up, as was pointed out by the "amazing" NBC commentators. But the Pens were outplayed and if I had to take a winner I’d say Washington won the first period. Especially with the shots, taking it to Marc-Andre Fleury every opportunity they got…Ovechkin just doesn’t pass up a chance to fire it. The second period seemed to be like the first for the Pens, that was until Washington got on the board and the game just went crazy. The Pens decided that they should see how their 5-3 coverage on the Penalty Kill looks right now, and gave the Capitals two 5-3 chances. Turns out, it doesn’t look so hot, perhaps our great Penguins staff should explain to the players that taking a penalty WHILE down a man isn’t advised….that means you Brooks Orpik. Again, if I had to choose a winner, the Capitals won period two. Period three goes to the Penguins. They seemed to turn it on, and in the 2nd half of the 3rd just dominated the puck. Until that is, an old Pittsburgh Penguin friend reared its ugly head…the all mighty "Too Many Men on the Ice" call. Ahhhh yes. Something that I don’t think has been as big of a problem the 2nd half of the season as it was all of last year and at the beginning of this year. But there it was, and while Washington HAD just gotten away with the same thing, I’m not sure, but Gonchar looked like he got away with one on Ovechkin right after. Luckily it had little effect on the Pens and they kept battling through till the end. With little time left in the game the Penguins and Capitals were tied at 2, when the Penguins threw the puck towards the net. It hit off of a few sticks, legs, skates, and eventually it landed right in front of a Capitals player…who cleared it into his own net. The celebration by Crosby (who got credit for the goal) and the rest of his line was down right hilarious, as anyone watching NBC would attest. At one point he asked Dupuis, "did he shoot that into his own net?" To which he replied, "yea", which gave Crosby a facial expression that would make a mime laugh out loud. Both players then had a good chuckle about it. Malkin and Staal sealed the deal with an empty-netter that Malkin unselfishly fed Staal to bury. Hey whatever it takes guys, whatever it takes. |
| Three Stars | ||||
| # | Player | Team | Pos. | Stats |
| 1 | Malkin | Pit | C | 3 Assists |
| 2 | Ovechkin | Wash | LW | 2 Assists |
| 3 | Crosby | Pit | C | 2 Goals |
| Stat Line | |||||||||
| Shots | Faceoffs | Power Plays | |||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Total | Won | Lost | Converted | Total | |
| Pittsburgh | 4 | 9 | 13 | X | 26 | 22 | 39 | 0 | 5 |
| Washington | 11 | 22 | 5 | X | 38 | 39 | 22 | 2 | 7 |
| Scoring Summary | |||||
| Per. | Time | Team | Goal | Assist | Assist |
| 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2 | 07:23 08:42 18:08 19:46 |
Wash Pit Pit Wash |
Brooks Laich Petr Sykora Sidney Crosby Alexander Semin |
Semin Malkin Malkin Ovechkin |
Ovechkin Taffe Gonchar Federov |
| 3 | 19:32 19:47 |
Pit Pit |
Sidney Crosby Jordan Staal |
Malkin |
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| Penalty Summary | ||||
| Per. | Time | Team | Player | Penalty |
| 1 | 03:15 04:43 09:29 17:56 |
Pit Wash Wash Pit |
Talbot Semin Green Ruutu |
Hooking – 2 min Roughing – 2 min Hooking – 2 min Charging – 2 min |
| 2 | 05:00 06:01 12:19 16:06 18:55 19:31 |
Pit Pit Wash Wash Pit Pit |
Sykora Orpik Morrisonn Fedorov Gill Orpik |
Holding – 2 min Slashing – 2 min Tripping – 2 min Slashing – 2 min Cross Check – 2 min Roughing – 2 min |
| 3 | 09:04 15:02 |
Wash Pit |
Laing Bench Minor |
Kneeing – 2 min Too Many Men – 2 min |
Comments
Ashley Gallant
Mar 9, 04:44 PM
That “Did he shoot it into his own net? He shot it into his own net!!!” quote by Crosby just made my day. I love the way he plays with so much passion. It’s definitely nice to have him back in the lineup.
Tim
Mar 9, 04:53 PM
Please tell me someone has a clip of this and they will upload it to youtube. I just got home from work and miss the game. Great win especially all since all the teams we are fighting with won last night. How did Fleury look?
Tim
Ashley Gallant
Mar 9, 05:36 PM
Tim
Here you go, the highlight of the game.
Backstrom scores on his own net
Watch Huet and Ovechkin crumple to the ice…
jon s
Mar 9, 06:39 PM
Did they say that Ovechkin punched Malkins agent in the face this past summer….
Ashley Gallant
Mar 9, 07:04 PM
Jon – yeah, it was reported that Ovechkin punched Malkin’s Russian agent, Gennady Ushakov, in the face last summer and broke his jaw. Not sure how true it all is, though.
Jonathan Farzalo
Mar 9, 07:34 PM
I heard that on the broadcast as well…
it’s weird, it was always reported they were friends, and i even remember at one point last year, someone did an interview with Malkin and Ovechkin acted as his interpreter…
interesting how things change over the course of a season…and how rivalries are built…it’s a much more interesting story than Crosby vs Ovechkin, IMO
Tim
Mar 9, 09:43 PM
Thanks Ahsley! That story is very bizarre I thought those 2 were close friends. Still it could have been a misunderstanding and has nothing to do with those 2 but some outside things.
Jonathan Farzalo
Mar 9, 09:51 PM
MAF looked, okay, not amazing, little rebound trouble…it IS fleury though.
I remember 1 key save on Ovechkin from a cross ice pass through the D…huge save…think it was during a PK.
DaBich
Mar 11, 02:51 PM
Hey, I wanted to say, you’re doing a great job, Jonathan. The new faces here are really helping add more “color” to the Factor =D
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