HEATHER WAMPLER – OVATHLETICS.COM
The Pens met with the Washington Capitals Wednesday night. They had to play without forward Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Sergei Gonchar. This was Malkin’s 4th game missed in the past 5. Gonch was out due to an illness. This was the Pens third to last road game for the reason. They return home for their next six games.
Caps defenseman Tom Poti was the first to head off to the sin bin at 2:19 for delay of game when he sent the puck sailing over the glass. This came a mere seconds after Caps goaltender Jose Theodore robbed Pens left winger Matt Cooke from opening the scoring. Despite their best efforts the Caps penalty killers were out full force and prevented them from scoring. Caps right winger Mike Knuble gives Pens goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury his first action of the night at 8:42 with a wrister. Pens left winger Ruslan Fedotenko draws a second penalty from the Caps at 14:03 when he was tripped by left winger Tomas Fleischmann. 18:10 in Pens center Mike Rupp and Caps captain (please hold for a moment while I go brush my teeth and gargle after saying that) Alex Ovechkin get into a shoving match after the whistle blew. No penalties to either player. The Pens outshot the Caps 17-9.
Barely 30 seconds in and the Pens have Theodore on his toes already. He barely makes the save. The Caps did manage to open the scoring for the game at 1:09 with yet another unanswered goal on Fleury. Caps center Niklas Backstrom made a shot from the boards that went off Fleury and bounced into the blue paint. Knuble was able to toss the puck right in. Ovechkin received the second assist. The Pens though were more than happy to answer with a goal of their own. 2:21 had Pens right winger Craig Adams passing the puck to defenseman Brooks Orpik who slammed a slap shot in which deflected off center Max Talbot. That was Talbot’s first goal in 31 games. Ovechkin tried his hardest to draw a penalty. First taking a dive when hit by Crosby but no whistle. Then he went across the ice to Pens defenseman Kris Letang who was called for tripping. I’ll keep my thoughts of Ovie to myself. The Pens were great at working off the Letang penalty. The Pens get their third power play opportunity at 10:12 when Caps right winger Alexander Semin high-sticks center Mike Rupp. They are now 0-3 on the power play. The Caps can’t seem to control themselves tonight. They give the Pens yet another power play opportunity at 13:44 when Fleischmann trips Letang. Thankfully the power play unit finally showed up. Crosby took a beautiful pass from his newest left winger Alexei Ponikarovsky skating down the slot. Despite losing the puck for a few moments he was able to recover and send a great backhander to right winger Billy Guerin, whose one-timer found its way behind Theodore giving the Pens a 2-1 lead. The Caps got one last shot off with less than two minutes left in the period. Fleury made a beautiful save on Knuble. The Pens were outshot 9-13 by the end of the second.
The Caps were definitely in the gift giving mood. It’s just too bad that the Pens didn’t want to take them. Caps defenseman Jeff Schultz was the first and only off to the sin bin for the third period. He was sent for holding when he grabbed Crosby’s head after the captain was able to take the puck off him. The Pens were 1-4 on the power play. Just because the Pens didn’t score doesn’t mean there wasn’t a goal. The Caps scored a short hander at 5:36. Semin picked off a pass and skated the puck 1-on-3 to the Pens end. He was able to beat Fleury over the glove with a wrister. Another bad goal. The Caps didn’t waste any time taking the lead at 7:32. Center Eric Belanger skated the puck behind Fleury’s net and sends it to defenseman Mike Green for a one-time but barely misses, right winger Eric Fehr managed to tip the shot in past Fleury. I was getting a bit worried as the minutes ticked away. I had my fingers crossed that if the Pens lost it wouldn’t be in regular time. They needed at least one point. Thankfully center Jordan Staal kept my hopes up at 16:54. Staal was able to pick up the puck and send it in behind Theodore with an amazing shot. A few saves from both goalies later it was time for OT. The Pens outshot the Caps 11-8 at the end of the third.
The five minutes of OT went by in a flash. No penalties and no goals. This meant the shootout. It started really well. Letang was up first for the Pens and used a quick forehand on Theodore for the goal. Backstrom was up first for the Caps but was stopped by Fleury. Crosby was the second shooter for the Pens and completely faked out Theodore for a 2-0 lead. If there was only one player Fleury saved on I wanted it to be this one, Alex Ovechkin. Unfortunately he was able to score. 2-1 now. Guerin was the third Pens shooter and was stopped. Not good. The Caps have found Fleury’s weakness. Semin sends a lifted backhander in for a shootout tie. Kunitz was the final Pens shooter up. It was up to him and well, he didn’t make it. He tried going to the five-hole and Theodore blocked it. Knuble was the winning shot. He sent the puck flying over Fleury’s left shoulder. I was disappointed.
The Pens are barely holding onto the top spot of the Atlantic Eastern Division with 91 points, the New Jersey Devils are second with 90. The Philadelphia Flyers are still third with 79 points followed by the New York Rangers with 73 and finally the New York Islanders with 68. The Caps of course hold onto the top of the Eastern Conference, now with 108 points. The Pens are second followed closely by the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils, both with 90 points. The Ottawa Senators pull in fifth with 83 points. Now as far as point’s leader goes I am more than happy to announce Ovie has been knocked off his pedestal! It may not have been by Crosby but none the less he is now number two. Henrik Sedin is now at the top with 99 points, Ovie with 98 and Crosby is tied for third with Niklas Backstrom with 89 points.
The Pens take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, March 27 @ 1 pm @ the Mellon Arena.
