Capitals get a huge win in Pittsburgh
The Washington Capitals earned a sweet win in Pittsburgh over the Penguins thanks to a comeback and a game winning goal from everyone’s favorite player. It was a 6-3 stomping that gave the Caps their second win in a row. They’ve beaten two very good teams.
Bryan Rust gave the Penguins the lead 45 seconds in. At 1:01 Marcus Johansson crashed the net and scored his first goal since returning to the Capitals. It was his seventh total goal of the season.
At 7:24 the Caps took the lead on a slapshot from Dmitry Orlov for his 11th goal of the season. Johan Larsson and Nic Dowd had the assists.
The Penguins struck back late in the first. Jeff Carter tied it at 18:34 and Brian Boyle gave them the lead at 19:34. 3-2 was the score after one as the Penguins led in shots 14-10.
The Caps got a golden opportunity to tie the game in the second period on the power play and Alex Ovechkin took advantage with a shot from the office for his 44th goal of the season at 4:49. It was assisted by John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom.
Ovechkin’s 44 goals are tied with Gordie Howe for the second most for a player at age 36 or older. He now trails Teemu Selanne who had 48 goals in 2006-07 at age 36. 3-3 was the score after two with the Caps leading in shots 16-11.
At 11:35 in the third the Caps took the lead thanks to Tom Wilson’s breakaway shot for his 22nd goal of the season. Gotta love it, especially in Pittsburgh. The Caps put the game away with empty net goals from Evgeny Kuznetsov for his 23rd of the season and Martin Fehervary for his seventh with the helpers from Wilson and Carlson.
This was another game the Caps needed to win in a regular season schedule that doesn’t get any easier. Wilson described the goal after the game:
"“That’s always my first thought, I think, is to try to get it over to [Ovechkin]. But I think it was probably, honestly gonna be a tougher pass than shot so I just decided to shoot it…[I] got lucky, fortunate timing in the game. Happy to get the win.”"
Must Read. Evgeny Kuznetsov easily exceeded expectations this year. light
The Caps will be back at it today at Capital One Arena against the Boston Bruins. Puck drop is at 1:30 on TNT.