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Penguins Send Off Ovechkin, Spirited But Goalless in DC
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- Penguins Send Off Ovechkin, Spirited But Goalless in DC
Pittsburgh Penguins Game 3-0 Loss Washington Capitals
WASHINGTON, D.C. —It felt like old times. A raucous Washington Capitals (42-30-9) crowd greeted Alex Ovechkin , and a back-and-forth game had agonizingly close moments, especially to the Pittsburgh Penguins (41-24-16) detriment. But the game was anything but ordinary, as evidenced by Penguins winger Evgeni Malkin shoving Ovechkin toward the faceoff dot to take the opening draw against Penguins captain Sidney Crosby .
In a fitting script for what was likely the final brawl between Crosby's Penguins and Ovechkin's Capitals, it was a controversial goal in the second period that changed the game. Washington defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk was perilously close to pitchforking a goal from under Penguins goalie Stuart Skinner 's pad into the net at 12:22 of the second period.
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Washington winger Connor McMichael put the icing on Ovechkin's retirement cake when he finished a two-on-one at 15:50 of the third period, and then scored the empty netter at 17:16 and Washington completed the weekend sweep that was essential to them and largely meaningless to the Penguins, 3-0 at Capital One Arena Sunday.
The unanswered questions surrounding Ovechkin's future hung in the air, but it surely seemed like the players knew the answer, even as fans chanted "One more year."
The Capitals played several tribute videos, including one featuring the 18-year-old Crosby and 19-year-old Ovechkin.
Ovechkin won the Calder Trophy back in 2005 over Crosby, despite Crosby's 100 points on a league-worst Penguins team. But Crosby has three Stanley Cup rings, and it took Ovechkin 12 years to finally deliver the Capitals' first franchise championship.
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The first period shots were perfectly even 8-8, and according to NaturalStatTrick.com, the scoring chances were also even, 9-9. Each goalie made a few saves, including on the old lions Sidney Crosby and Ovechkin, whose presences were the sentimental reminders of the 21 years gone by since they were fresh-faced teenagers saving the NHL from the salary cap Armageddon lockout of 2004-05.
Washington goalie Logan Thompson made a couple of saves on Crosby, including stopping a vintage redirect in which Crosby dropped to one knee to get leverage. Penguins goalie Stuart Skinner got to the near post to stop Ovechkin's one-time blast from the left circle.
Chances and shots were about even in the second period, too. The Penguins ended with a very small 21-20 shots advantage. Just like old times, minus goal scoring.
Somewhere, Marc-Andre Fleury 's laugh echoed as Skinner stopped a couple of Ovechkin shots but Ovechkin earned an assist on McMichael's empty netter.
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Skinner stopped 23 of 25 shots. Thompson saved the Capitals, stopping all 24 shots he faced.
The Penguins complete their regular season Tuesday in St. Louis .
Penguins Notes
Six of the seven Penguins who didn't play Saturday due to injury played Sunday, including Crosby. The Penguins rested five more players to nurse injuries, again jumbling the lineup:
Egor Chinakhov-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Tommy Novak-Rickard Rakell-Evgeni Malkin
Ville Koivunen-Kevin Hayes-Justin Brazeau
Elmer Soderblom-Joona Koppanen-Rutger McGroarty
Defense
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard-Kris Letang
Ilya Solovyov-Jack St. Ivany
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The post Penguins Send Off Ovechkin, Spirited But Goalless in DC appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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