Caps lose to Penguins 4-3 in shootouts

Caps lose to Penguins 4-3 in shootouts

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It’s been a long time – almost a calendar year – since Washington Capitals spent a day visiting its best friends, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both teams are still a little rusty, as the Sunday matinee can attest.

The Penguins reached the scoreboard first, when Evan Rodrigues deflected a pass from Brian Dumoulin. Caps responded with some fourth-rate grease and then took the lead thanks to Alex Ovechkin’s first goal of the season.

That advantage was erased in the second period, when Ilya Samsonov made a bad move behind the net. That error was temporarily suspended after a clean Kuznetsov-to-Backstrom streak in power play, but Marcus Petterson’s goal restored the tie, making it 3-3 in the third period.

The third gave us heartburn, but no goals, so we tried and failed to decide the game in overtime. Instead, I bring you the return of the bullets.

  • Letang did not put the cookie in the basket.
  • Oshie did not put the cookie in the basket.
  • Crosby did not put the cookie in the basket.
  • Backstrom did not put the cookie in the basket.
  • Malkin did not put the cookie in the basket.
  • Kuznetsov did not put the cookie in the basket.
  • Guentzel put the cookie in the basket.
  • Ovechkin did not put the cookie in the basket.

Caps lose.

  • Peter Laviolette talked about increasing Washington’s offensive production this season. This is not yet happening. The Caps hit three (3) shots on goal in the second period; none in its final nine minutes.
  • The Caps paid for this inaction. Both Chara and Dillon had significant shooting blocks, the bruises from which they may be recovering for a while.
  • Perhaps he received bad information from his teammates, but the goalkeeper Ilya Samsonov massively misplaced the puck behind his net in the second period. Instead of breaking the ice of the disc, it allowed Coulton Sceviour a tray. (This setup took several minutes to review the video, but it was a good goal.) In addition, I didn’t worry too much about Samsonov’s performance. He had problems with screenshots and close-up deviations, but so did everyone else.
  • Despite the departure of coach Todd Reirden, it seems confirmed now that the Caps are still making a slingshot – at least sometimes – in power play.
  • The Caps penalty problem is not over yet. They took five in that match, several in the offensive zone, most when the score was tied.
  • But, as I have said a few times, I am still not drawing any concrete conclusions. We saw only three games, two of them against Sabers, without pre-season, without much training ground. There will be experiences, assessments and adjustments (hopefully) as the season progresses.
  • And in the meantime, Alex Ovechkin he is finally out of the schneid, registering his first goal of the season by taking advantage of a loose disc in the slot after some clever work by his teammates Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson, both with strong games. Kuznetsov’s assist in the Backstrom goal was somewhat surgical. Then again, Kuznetsov and Wilson were both criminals in Caps’ ongoing penalty problems.
  • Ovi should of had two goals. Double ping here:
  • Daniel SprongThe Caps’ debut was nothing short of amazing. In the third period, Laviolette had seen enough. He didn’t skate on the third. (I thought he was fine.)
  • That was a strange three against three overtime. The teams seemed to be nudging each other, feeling each other, but reluctant to actually go on the attack. As tiring as previous Caps OTs were stimulating.

There is no Joe B today, so you’ll have to settle for this:

There is not a ton of Washington love here. After the first period, his game of uniform strength fell apart. They committed many penalties and generated very few offenses. But their goalkeeper made just one big mistake, and they made plays smart enough to guarantee a point in the standings. And they were very close to winning, despite their failures.

Anyway, we’ll see a rematch on Tuesday night. See you then.

RMNB cap coverage on penguins

Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports

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