Caps defeated the Penguins 3-1, no, really, they won this

Caps defeated the Penguins 3-1, no, really, they won this

by

In an impressive turnaround, Washington Capitals played well against the Pittsburgh Penguins and really won a game. I would be honored to tell you about it.

There we were, at the beginning of the second period, but at the end of capitalism, when Nick Jensen overcame the Pens in the corner to prepare Conor Sheary for a quick laser shot. Later in that period, TJ Oshie sent a magic pass to Jakub Vrana, who covered him to beat Tristan Jarry over the top.

The Caps did not give up on the third. In the beginning, Richard Panik found Lars Eller on the weak side to make it 3-0. The Penguins broke through late on a tricky move, but the day belonged to Washington.

CAPS WIN. Waste of time.

  • The first period was a little sleepy, but also curious. Attempts to shoot with uniform strength were 50/50, but Washington controlled 84% of the expected goals. That’s because they kept Pittsburgh completely out of place. This is very unusual. I wrote about this pattern yesterday, but I didn’t expect to see it demonstrated so clearly.
  • In the first period, Garnet Hathaway was the victim of an accidental grazing on Tristan Jarry. Like Valjean before him, Hathaway humbly served his unjust sentence.
  • In the second period, known demon Mike Matheson made a violent, courageless and classless attack against the benign Czech goalkeeper named Vanecek. Absolutely shameful and pathetic, typical of Pittsburgh. Darkly, but ineffectively, the referees gave Matheson just a despicable two minutes in the penalty area. What a joke.
  • Jakub Vrana has goals in two in a row, including this crackerjack set up by Oshie, but this bullet is just to celebrate another agonizing break interview with the boy. These are my favorite segments lately. He can’t stop feeling emotional.
  • Sheary-Eller-Panik was positively dominant. Eller looked good for some games; his third goal was inevitable. It was the opposite of whatever Hagelin’s next goal was.
  • I don’t mind confrontations, except when Geno uses one to take Kuznetsov down, and then Kuznetsov lies on the ground appealing to the referees as if someone has just beheaded his doll.
  • Vitek Vanecek came very close to recording his first NHL shutdown until Justin Schultz stuck a penguin in it the moment Aston-Reese fired. What a huge bore. Schultz probably owes Vanecek an edible arrangement or something.

That was …

This was a very good game.

It was well played. The Caps scored goals. They didn’t explode a big advantage. They did not commit a billion penalties. I am sincerely satisfied with almost all of it.

Now three days of rest, as if they needed it. JK they play Thursday. My bad.

RMNB cap coverage on penguins

Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports Washington

Source