Marcus Johansson scored his 13th goal of the season. (Caps Outsider)
The Washington Capitals faced off against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, yet another game in the long saga of Alex Ovechkin against Sidney Crosby.
Ovechkin got the scoring started on a first-period power play goal. The Caps played very well in the first, outshooting the Penguins 22-8.
“We played the best first period of the year so far,” Coach Peter Laviolette said after the game.
Pittsburgh, however, outplayed the Caps in the second, scoring once and outshooting the Caps 17-11.
Marcus Johansson’s goal early in the third period put the Caps back up but Bryan Rust tied the game at 2-2.
The Caps had a power play in overtime but couldn’t convert. They settled for a shootout win on goals by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom.
“Seeing things happen before they happen, he made a terrific play,” Laviolette said of Backstrom’s assist to Johansson, and praised his shootout goal. Backstrom had been sick recently and was apparently in a bad mood this morning.
As for Kuzy’s shootouts, which take longer than a King Viserys stroll to the Iron Throne:
“I’m glad I’m not a goalie,” Laviolette said about Kuznetsov’s long shootouts. “But he knows what he’s doing.”
