The Pittsburgh Penguins - down several regulars in their lineup - were not able to stop Alex Ovechkin's Washington Capitals in what could be Ovechkin's final game in Pittsburgh
Going into the first game of their home-and-home series against the Washington Capitals on Saturday - and the final home game of the regular season - the Pittsburgh Penguins were going to be pretty shorthanded.
Having already clinched a playoff berth with a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, the Penguins had a plethora of players nursing some injuries that they decided to hold out of the lineup - despite the possibility that it could be Alex Ovechkin's final game in Pittsburgh.
Well, the Penguins looked like a team that was missing a whole lot of regulars from their lineup - and Washington's young guys delivered in a must-win game for the Capitals.
The Caps defeated the Pens, 6-3, With Ovechkin scoring the empty-net goal near the end of the contest to cap off the win. Ryan Leonard scored twice, each Protas brother - Aliaksei and Ilya - got on the board, and Tom Wilson registered his second-consecutive 30-goal season for the Caps en route to the win.
Penguins' netminder Arturs Silovs stopped 25 of 30 Washington shots on goal, while Pittsburgh only registered 12 shots of its own over the entire course of the game.
There was no score after the first period, where the Capitals outshot the Penguins, 10-1, but Silovs stood tall. But the second period got pretty crazy quickly. Aliaksei Protas opened the scoring just a minute and half into the middle frame, but Penguins' leading goal-scorer Anthony Mantha cashed in just 26 seconds later to knot the game up at 1-1 with his 32nd of the season.
However, the Caps answered four minutes later with consecutive goals by Leonard and Wilson to gain a two-goal lead. Noel Acciari put home his 13th for the Penguins a little past the midway point, but Leonard found the back of the net for his second of the game and 20th of the season to make it 4-2.
But immediately following a Penguins' penalty kill, Ryan Shea sprung Kevin Hayes from the box with a perfect neutral-zone pass, and Hayes came down the left side and put a perfect finish on it to bring the Penguins to within one.
The Caps didn't go away, though, and there were ultimately able to get goals from Ilya Protas and Ovechkin in the third - with Ovi's empty-net goal sealing the deal. Anthony Mantha was awarded a penalty shot in the third period, too, but he was unable to execute.
While the Penguins are unable to budge in the standings for the remainder of the regular season, the Capitals' win was huge for them, as they were able to stay within the conversation for a playoff spot. The New York Islanders fell earlier in the day, while the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets each won their respective games later, and the Metropolitan's third position is now the only pathway for any of those four teams to make the playoffs.
Washington trails Philadelphia - currently in that third spot - by three points.
The Capitals and Penguins will face off again on Sunday in Washington for the second half of a home-and-home, and it may be a similar lineup to the one the Penguins put out there on Saturday. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Ben Kindel, Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson, Parker Wotherspoon, and Kris Letang are all considered day-to-day and did not play.
"I mean, obviously, they made a ton of changes to their lineup right before the game, and those games can be tough sometimes," Wilson said. "So, we knew we had to keep it simple and not give them anything. For the most part, we did a pretty good job. I think they got a couple good looks, but for the most part, we were dumping pucks, getting them back, forechecking, keeping it simple, using our legs.
"You don't want to get into a back-and-forth game on this type of night, so obviously, we've got one tomorrow, too."
Ovechkin got a nice ovation from the Pittsburgh faithful, too, in preparation for the fact that this could very well have been his last game in Pittsburgh, as both the Capitals' playoff hopes and his future are undecided at this point.
But Oveckhin appreciated the gesture from the crowd, and he said it's a sign of mutual respect between the two teams.
"Yeah, it was nice. It was a show of respect," Ovechkin said. "All that time that we spend on rivalries, playoffs, other good seasons... yeah. It shows respect."
And Penguins' players sure have a lot of respect for what Ovechkin has done over the years, too, and they are happy to have been a part of it for however long they've had the opportunity.
"Yeah, I mean, it's always special," Rickard Rakell said. "You've always got to be aware of where he's at on the ice because, I mean, he's... everybody knows about his shot. He's on for such a long time.
"I've had the pleasure to play against him for a long time, and you know when he's scoring on you. But, he's a fun player to watch."
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