Washington Capitals get payback over Penguins

After falling in overtime on Tuesday night, the Washington Capitals got payback in a big way with a fast start and a strong finish on the way to a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins to close out the five game homestand.

The Caps struck first at 11:20 in the first. Nick Jensen fed the puck on ice through traffic to an open Nicklas Backstrom and he put it in for his team leading ninth goal of the season.

1-0 would be the score and the Caps would protect the lead by killing off two penalties. The Caps outshot the Penguins 12-11.

Nobody scored in the second period. The Caps killed off two more penalties while the Pens killed off one. The Caps outshot the Pens in the second 14-11.

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The third period started out stressful but ended gloriously. At 3:18 T.J. Oshie doubled the lead with a one handed goal. He deked a defender, dove down, and used his left hand to put the puck in. Early candidate for goal of the year. Lars Eller and John Carlson had the helpers.

Then things got scary. Brandon Tanev got the Penguins on the board at 4:22. The Penguins would tie it three minutes later with a goal from Jake Guentzel. The Caps could’ve easily folded but instead they buckled up.

Peter Laviolette said after the game via Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription required):

"“When it goes back to 2-2, that’s a chance to cave a little bit and I don’t think we did. We kept pressing and stayed on it and got a big power-play goal and it was a nice response to what had happened.”"

The Caps would get a power play opportunity and at 12:40 Tom Wilson would save the night. Carlson fed the puck to Wilson who was planted right in front of the net. Alex Ovechkin had the secondary assist. For Wilson, it was his seventh goal of the season.

Late in the game, the Penguins pulled their goalie looking for the tying tally. Their plan backfired. Carl Hagelin got the empty netter at 18:38 for his second goal of the season. Eller would get an empty net goal of his own to seal the win at 19:08 assisted by Oshie and Backstrom.

The Caps are 4-1-1 in their last six games and are now tied with the Boston Bruins for first in the East Division. Before the two powerhouses face off, the Caps will travel to New Jersey to take on a young but dangerous Devils team.