Pittsburgh Penguins Steal Win in Game Two; Tie Series
The Pittsburgh Penguins squeaked out a 2-1 win over Washington in game two of their playoff series, thanks to great goaltending from Matt Murray and a clutch goal from former Capital Eric Fehr.
A last-minute goal from Eric Fehr and phenomenal goaltending from rookie Matt Murray helped the Penguins pull out a last-minute win over the Capitals. Thanks to the 2-1 win, the teams head into Pittsburgh with the series tied at one.
The hard-hitting series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals proceeded as status quo. Former Penguin Brooks Orpik threw a hard (and late, and high) hit on Olli Maatta just a couple minutes into the game. Maatta looked dazed when he managed to get up and had to be helped off the ice by his teammates.
Maatta would not return to the game.
Orpik went to the box for interference and gave the Penguins an early powerplay. Though the visiting team couldn’t manage to convert on the advantage, it was all Penguins early. They put pressure on Braden Holtby and sustained their presence in the zone.
The first period was quick, with few stoppages of play and a lot of back-and-forth movement. The Capitals were a step behind the Penguins, not really helping out their goaltender – who, while strong early on, allowed a lot of rebounds and second chances for the Pens.
Of course, the same could be said at the other end of the ice. As the first twenty minutes wound down, the Pens allowed a couple turnovers and repeated chances directly on Matt Murray – who allowed some rebounds of his own in the midst of the barrages.
The Capitals drew a powerplay during one of those instances. Ben Lovejoy slashed Evgeny Kuznetsov right in front of Murray’s crease and was sent to the box, allowing the lethal Washington powerplay a chance.
Kuznetsov himself had a few good looks on the man-advantage, but the Pens’ strong penalty-killers did their job effectively.
Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin, the third-line wingers, were some of the strongest players throughout the first period. While their line, centered by Nick Bonino, has been one of the best in the league for over a month, it’s always great when the lower lines can make strong impacts.
The Penguins outshot the Caps 14-5 in the first period, and though they couldn’t convert that was the kind of strong play they need in order to be successful.
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Just over a minute into the second period, the Penguins got another powerplay chance. Kuznetsov held Matt Cullen as the Penguin headed toward Holtby and would take a seat in the penalty box. The Pens’ powerplay looked pretty good; though they passed in the zone more than they shot, they took time to set up some good plays and slick passes to make the most of their advantage.
Though they couldn’t put the puck behind Holtby, the Pens still looked good. Bryan Rust snatched up a blue-line turnover and zoomed up ice alone on Holby; he was tied up at the last minute by Taylor Chorney but the breakaway gave the Penguins a few more good chances.
The Pens finally broke their chain of missed opportunities and got on the board first. Bonino deftly maneuvered the puck behind the net and dished it to Hagelin, who was crashing the net directly in front of Holtby. With everyone’s attentions on Bonino, Hagelin was undefended; he shot the puck bar-down and finally broke the stalemate.
That strong third line now has 19 points in this postseason.
The Pens had a little more puck luck on their side, with a shot from Jason Chimera just hitting the crossbar and bouncing away. Then Karl Alzner jumped into the wrong bench and the Caps were given a too many men penalty. Marcus Johansson served the penalty.
(More accurately, Alzner jumped into the box with Pierre McGuire, but that’s unfortunate enough on its own that the penalty only added insult to injury.)
Though they couldn’t do anything on that powerplay either, they got another chance moments later. Chorney was caught roughing up Cullen and took a seat. The Caps’ kill was strong, though, and the Pens’ attack was to no avail.
There was another crazy netfront scrum following this, where the gassed Penguins couldn’t get the puck out of their zone. Nate Schmidt roofed the puck when Murray went down, but the referee immediately called it off: Kuznetsov had interfered with Murray just before Schmidt had scored.
Kuznetsov fell down of his own accord, basically on top of Murray’s head, and impeded his ability to stop the puck. An irate Barry Trotz put up a fight, but regardless it was ruled not to be a goal and, on top of that, a penalty against Kuznetsov.
The Pens continued to assault Holby but the Vezina nominee was impressive. The scrum moved to the other end of the ice as Orpik continued to try to murder his former teammates, cross-checking Letang high in the chest and knocking his helmet off.
Later, Malkin got into it a bit with Orpik, standing up for his teammates and proving there really are no friendships on the ice.
Though the Penguins still couldn’t get a powerplay goal, it wasn’t for lack of trying. They finished the second period outshooting the Caps 28-10, and had put almost constant pressure on the defense and Holtby. Letang put up 6 of the shots, while the Swedes Patric Hornqvist and Hagelin had 5 shot attempts apiece. The balance, depth, and speed of the Penguins proved to be invaluable yet again.
The Capitals finally got another chance on the man advantage after spending much of the second period with a man down. Letang tripped Nicklas Backstrom but lost his helmet in the battle, and he was incredulous as he skated to the box.
Johansson made it a tie game on the powerplay. The puck bounced off Murray’s pad and Johansson, right on top of the crease, nudged it in the net. If looks could kill, every official and every Capital would have spontaneously combusted when Letang left the box.
It was chaos from that point on. The hits got even harder, the scoring chances more frequent, the missed opportunities just that much closer.
Turnovers abounded, and Nick Bonino was able to head up ice with Kessel. Matt Niskanen, the only defenseman between them and Holtby, did a good job cutting off the passing lane and stymieing Bonino. Bonino and Niskanen exchanged pleasantries after the fact and both took a seat in their respective penalty boxes.
The third period was certainly a comeback for the Capitals. They turned on the gas, pressuring Murray and trying to dominate the Penguins’ tired defense. Letang, always the workhorse, had to step up even more with Maatta’s absence – he played over 35 minutes in a regulation game.
Former Cap Eric Fehr teamed up with Malkin to give the Penguins a late lead. The remaining four minutes could not go by fast enough! The Caps pulled Holtby for the extra attacker but the Penguins kept icing the puck, unable to launch it into the empty net.
The Caps were unstoppable on faceoffs, which is something the Pens will need to work on. When they have home-ice advantage they’ll also have the faceoff advantage, but they just could not win any in their defensive zone when they really needed to.
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Murray, luckily, continued his phenomenal goaltending through the constant pressure. The young goalie definitely kept the Penguins in it in the third period and gave them the means to win.
The Pens scraped out a win, 2-1, and head back to Pittsburgh with a tied series.