Ovechkin goal is lone score in Washington victory
The Capitals have beaten the Penguins indoors and they have beaten them outdoors. They have won in Washington and they have won in Pittsburgh. Now they can add another venue to the list after a 1-0 victory over the Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center on Monday night.
Alex Ovechkin hammered home a power-play goal late in the second period and goalie Michal Neuvirth stopped all 39 shots he faced as the Caps upended short-handed Pittsburgh, which was missing star centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, winger Chris Kunitz and defenseman Paul Martin to injury.
It was the third win for Washington against the Penguins this season. The Caps finished 3-0-1 against their chief rival and now are 10-0-2 against them in the last dozen games. More importantly, the Caps (32-19-10, 74 points) pulled to within three points of Pittsburgh (36-20-5, 77 points) for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. Washington also is now just one point behind idle Tampa Bay (34-18-7, 75 points) for first place in the Southeast Division. The Lightning, however, have played two fewer games so far.
Neuvirth earned his second shutout against Pittsburgh in 15 days. He also saved all 22 shots in a 3-0 win on Feb. 6. It was a much busier game on Monday night. The Penguins fired 18 shots at Neuvirth in the first period alone and 15 more shots than the Caps in regulation.
| Caps notes |
| » Washington defenseman Mike Green missed his sixth game in the last seven thanks to inner-ear trauma. |
| » The Caps have two shutouts in a row against Pittsburgh after not holding the Penguins scoreless in the previous 79 meetings. |
| » Washington has won its last seven games on the road against the Penguins. |
Ovechkin recorded his power-play goal at 16:38 of the second period after a pretty drop pass from rookie teammate Marcus Johansson. It was the fifth goal in nine games for Ovechkin, who is at 24 for the season overall. But it was just his fifth power-play goal in 2010-11. He has never finished with fewer than 13 in a single year. Ovechkin is in the midst of a four-game point streak with six points during that stretch.
The Caps had allowed a power-play goal in each of the previous four games and killed just five of nine penalties during that stretch. But they managed to stifle Pittsburgh on Monday, killing all three short-handed situations.
The Penguins also played the game without defenseman Alex Goligoski after trading the 25-year-old to the Dallas Stars earlier in the day for forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen. But neither of those players were able to make it to Pittsburgh in time for the game.
