Caps 1, Penguins 0
The identity change continues. The Caps got a power-play goal late in the second period from Alex Ovechkin and made that stand up for another 23 minutes, 22 seconds on the road at Pittsburgh.
Since Nov. 24 – a span of 39 games now – Washington has shut out its opponent four times. It has allowed one goal 10 times and two goals 11 times. In all the Caps have allowed 85 goals during that stretch. That’s 2.18 goals per game over almost half a season. Vancouver currently leads the NHL at 2.28. Overall, Washington is sixth (2.43). There’s some serious defending going on here.
No one will confuse this version of the Penguins with the 80s Oilers, of course. Not with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the shelf, among others, and Monday’s trade acquisitions, James Neal and Matt Niskanen, not yet in uniform. But this one was about how the Caps played down the stretch and not who they played. VERSUS analyst Pierre McGuire raved about Washington’s positioning, its willingness to block shots, its effort to clear pucks in front of goalie Michal Neuvirth. The Caps blocked 20 shots in all.
It wasn’t a perfect game. Far from it. The baby Penguins – with six players on the roster who have spent time at AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season and three more of those kids on injured reserve – outworked Washington early with 18 shots in the first period alone. The Caps relied on their steady penalty kill to thwart three chances early and went into the second period scoreless. They also got lucky when Pittsburgh hit two posts. Otherwise, Neuvirth had maybe his best game as a pro with a 39-save shutout – his second vs. the Penguins in 15 days.
“Early in the game when they were coming at us really hard [Neuvirth] was not allowing any rebounds,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters afterwards. “He can corral them and smother them like he has Velcro on him. That is when I know that Michal is on top of his game. He was seeing everything. They had a lot of in-the-crease chances and he was seeing everything and I knew he was going to be good.”
At the other end of the rink there’s really not much time left to wait for the offense to explode before the NHL trade deadline, though Ovechkin’s recent hot streak – five goals in nine games – is promising. Washington should get forward Eric Fehr (shoulder) back soon to stabilize the third line and provide more production there. Defenseman Mike Green (inner-ear trauma) could be ready by Friday and maybe Tom Poti (groin) won’t be far behind. But Caps general manager George McPhee has likely made up his mind already if he wants to add pieces to this group. If that answer is yes then it’s just a matter now of finding the right deal between now and next Monday.
But for a team that needed a players-only meeting on Feb. 12 before heading out on a difficult five-game road trip you couldn’t ask for much more. Washington went 3-2 with wins in Anaheim, Buffalo and Pittsburgh. It dropped one-goal decision to Phoenix and San Jose. The Caps return home just three points behind the Penguins for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference and one point behind Tampa Bay for first place in the Southeast Division.
Plus, any worries about missing the playoffs altogether can be put to rest – maybe for good. Washington is now 14 points up on Buffalo and Atlanta, who each have 60 points and are tied for the dreaded No. 9 spot. The Sabres actually have three games in hand, but don’t seem able to actually do anything with them. The Caps are down to 21 games left with nine of them against the six worst teams in the NHL: Florida (3x), New Jersey, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto and the New York Islanders (2x). That guarantees nothing. But the opportunity is definitely there to make a push for the division and maybe a top seed. Next up: Hey, what do you know? An honest-to-goodness home game. This one’s against the No. 7 New York Rangers on Friday night.
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