Crosby increases point streak to 23 games
Pascal Dupuis scored the game-winning goal in the seventh round of a shootout to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 victory over the Capitals at Verizon Center on Thursday night.
Washington (20-12-5, 45 points) had won all four meetings between the two teams last season – two of those games also going to overtime or the shootout. Thanks to the victory on Thursday Pittsburgh improved to 24-10-2 with 50 points as the Caps and Penguins get set for the annual outdoor Winter Classic at Heinz Field on New Year’s Day.
“I thought we played well. We haven’t been playing 60 minutes for a while here and I thought we did that,” said Caps defenseman Mike Green, whose apparent overtime goal didn’t count because there was no way for replay officials to see the puck, which rested under the glove of Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. “We competed. We never gave up. And when we needed a goal we found a way to get it and come back.”
The Caps recorded the game’s first six shots thanks in part to a 4-on-3 power play in the first period. But they couldn’t convert and Pittsburgh countered. Defenseman Kris Letang’s shot with 3 minutes, 21 seconds left in the first period was tipped home by star forward Sidney Crosby, who had been showered with boos moments earlier by the Verizon Center crowd. That made it 1-0 Penguins.
Pittsburgh blocked 11 shots alone in the first period and 23 for the game – a recurring issue for the Caps the last couple of years. Washington had already wasted six full minutes of power play time midway through the second period. Then Green drew another penalty at 11:42 of the second – a hook on Pittsburgh’s Mike Rupp – and Matt Cooke took a bizarre delay-of-game penalty nine seconds later when he fired the puck out of play from his own defensive zone and over the head of Caps goalie Michal Neuvirth at the other end of the rink.
With yet another power play against three Pittsburgh defenders winding down it looked like Washington would blow another golden chance. Despite almost five minutes of ice time against three men the Caps had nothing to show for it at that point – until Green finally ripped a shot past Fleury one second after the 5-on-3 had turned into a 5-on-4. Green led all skaters with 34:03 of ice time, took six shots and was credited with eight hits and five blocked shots.
“I thought it was [Green’s] best game in a long time. He played good defensively and yet he jumped into the play and made things happen offensively,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “You could see his reaction after he scored it was like the weight of the world came off his shoulders. He looked like a different guy after that. And save for the fact that you can’t see through leather we probably would have won the game.”
But they didn’t. On the first shift of the third period, Chris Kunitz tipped home a backhanded pass from Crosby to put the Penguins back on top, 2-1. That lead stood until Mike Knuble’s shorthanded goal at 14:31 of the third period tied the game again. Both teams fired four shots on goal in overtime, but it took Dupuis’ shootout goal – he whipped the puck past Neuvirth’s glove side – to decide a winner.
“We didn’t win the hockey game. I’m sick of talking about intentions and trying to measure ourselves and trying to play well,” Caps forward Brooks Laich said. “We’ve got to win hockey games. That’s the bottom line.”
