The severely shorthanded Washington Capitals absolutely dominated Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night, scoring a touchdown to beat the Pens by a 6-1 score.
And honestly, the Pens were probably lucky it was only 6-1. When you look at the scoring chances, it could’ve been a lot worse.
So exactly how did a Caps team that’s still missing Nicklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, Anthony Mantha, and Nic Dowd get to a 6-1 score against the Pens? Let’s take a look:
SCORING:
- 1-0 Caps: The Pens got an early power play, but it was Caps’ rookie Martin Fehervary who would get the goal. After an ill-advised Sidney Crosby drop-pass that went awry just inside of the Caps’ blue line, Tom Wilson and Fehervary would find themselves on a 2-on-1. Wilson’s pass to Fehervary was on the tape, and Fehervary would bury a short-side wrist shot past Pens’ starter Tristan Jarry for the shorthanded goal and the 1-0 lead. Assists to Wilson & Garnet Hathaway.
- 2-0 Caps: There were many beautiful goals for the Caps in this game, but this one in particular was on a whole other level entirely. Everything about it was gorgeous. It started with the breakout pass from Trevor van Riemsdyk, who somehow knew that left wing Alex Ovechkin was going to be flying across to the opposite side of the ice, and so van Riemsdyk banked the puck up off of the right wing boards so Ovechkin could skate into it. It was a ridiculous pass, and ridiculous timing by those two guys. Ovechkin would then blaze into the Penguins’ zone, fake a big booming slap shot, and instead slide a perfect pass over to Hathaway when everyone in the building (except for Hathaway, thankfully) thought he was going to shoot it, including the Pens’ helpless goaltender. Hathaway buried it for his 3rd goal in the last 2 games. Assists to Ovechkin & van Riemsdyk.
- 2-1 Caps: Jake Guentzel scores the Penguins’ only goal of the night. Assists to Kris Letang & Mike Matheson.
- 3-1 Caps: Taking advantage of another Penguins’ turnover, ex-Pen Daniel Sprong goes roof-daddy to beat Jarry after a sweet pass from Lars Eller. Assists to Eller & Conor Sheary.
- 4-1 Caps: Another ex-Pen – Sheary – takes his turn scoring against his former team just a couple of minutes later, after Sprong narrowly missed netting his 2nd of the game. Assists to Connor McMichael & Sprong.
- 5-1 Caps: Evgeny Kuznetsov takes a pass in the slot from Ovechkin and wires it past Jarry. The play was made possible thanks to a heavy forecheck from Ovechkin and Wilson, who both took out their defenders with hits and caused the Penguins to turn the puck over. Assist to Ovechkin.
- 6-1 Caps: After a selfish penalty by a petulant Sidney Crosby (who we will talk about more in just a moment), Wilson would take a beautiful pass from Kuznetsov and head in on the breakaway, tucking a backhander through Jarry’s 5-hole for the power play goal. Assists to Kuznetsov & John Carlson.
FINAL SCORE: 6-1 Capitals.
So. There were many things worth talking about in this game, but let’s start with Sidney Crosby Watch.
Yes, Sid The Whining Kid made his not-so-valiant return to the Penguins’ lineup in this game, which was supposed to fix everything for the Pens, who are fast sliding down the standings in the Metropolitan Division.
SPOILER ALERT: It did not fix everything for the Pens. Not even close. In fact, Sid definitely hurt his team more than he helped them in this game. Let’s take a look:
- First, just a few minutes into the game, he helped the Caps get on the board with that way overconfident drop-pass on a Penguins’ power play.
- Not to be outdone there, he had several more giveaways throughout the game. He was hemmed in his own zone all night by the Caps’ top line of Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson, and this climaxed with Kuznetsov’s goal in the 3rd period, which Sid was standing right in front of the net for. He had a great view of Ovechkin’s pass and of Kuznetsov’s snipe. Kuznetsov was Crosby’s guy to cover, so a job well done there.
- Shortly after Kuznetsov’s goal, Sid became frustrated by Kuznetsov and Wilson over by the benches, and he gave Kuznetsov about 5 crosschecks right to the chest as Kuzy just stood there giving him a kind of “What the hell is wrong with you, bro?” stare. Sid then got the hell out of dodge just as Wilson took note of what he was doing to Kuzy, but not before the referees also witnessed it and tagged him with a 2-minute crosschecking penalty. The two guys Sid was so frustrated with – Kuznetsov and Wilson – would hook up almost immediately after the penalty box door had shut behind him for the power play goal and the 6-1 lead. Pure poetry. It was the exclamation point on a shitty night for Sid, much to the delight of the capacity crowd at Capital One Arena.
- Crosby had also at one point showed his frustration by dangerously throwing Caps’ rookie Marty Fehervary head-first into the boards, with the puck already long gone. Classy. He was not penalized for it and we learned today that there will be no supplemental discipline as a result of it either, which is a total head-scratcher. Seems like exactly the type of play that the NHL claims they are trying to rid the game of, but whatever. Fehervary – asked about it after the game – said “Whatever” and “We’ll see what happens the next time we play them”, seemingly suggesting that Sid will not get away with his cheap shot.
- All told, the Caps’ top line of Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson was a combined +6 against Sid’s line in the game.
- Sid finished with 0 points, 1 shot, and 42% in the faceoff circle. Oof.
Another interesting aspect of this game was the effect that the ex-Penguins had on it for the Caps… Daniel Sprong and Conor Sheary each posted a goal and an assist, and the four ex-Penguins all together (Sprong, Sheary, Carl Hagelin, Justin Schultz) were a combined +6.
The Caps are tied for 1st in the Metropolitan Division and 2nd in the NHL. Their +18 goal differential is the 2nd-best in the NHL, behind only the Carolina Hurricanes (+20).
The offense is roaring as always (despite the many injuries to top players), and the defense continues to be a strong point as the Caps are giving up just 26.7 shots-against-per-game, good for 2nd in the entire NHL.
Individually, a number of guys are rolling, with Alex Ovechkin being named the NHL’s 1st Star of the Week again after posting 8 points in the Caps’ last 4 games (Caps with a 4-0-0 record over that stretch), Ovi leads the league in even-strength points and is 3rd in the league in points overall, behind only Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.
Evgeny Kuznetsov is right behind them, 4th overall in the league in points.
Caps Nick Jensen (+15), Alex Ovechkin (+14), Tom Wilson (+12), and Dmitry Orlov (+11) are ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the entire NHL in plus-minus.
… And the best part is, several of the Caps’ injured stars are nearing a return from injury as all of Nicklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, and Nic Dowd skated in full gear the other morning for the first time since being out. Oshie and Dowd will both make the trip with the Caps out to the west coast, as both are hoping they might be able to return to the active lineup at some point during the west coast swing. Backstrom is staying behind in DC for now but will continue skating and working out as he rehabs his hip injury. The only guy who hasn’t been seen on the ice yet is Anthony Mantha (shoulder surgery).
NEXT GAME: Tonight (Tuesday), 10pm EST/7pm PST, in Anaheim against the Ducks.
