In a big Thursday night rivalry night the Washington Capitals faced off against the hated Pittsburgh Penguins with both teams tied in the wild card standings.
Right off the bat the Capitals probably play their best first period all season completely dominating puck control and chances galore. This line of Ovi, Oshie, and Strome is a gamechanger please god Lavy keep this line all season.
The Caps had 22 shot on net in the first which matched their single period high for the season.
The mix of speed and skill with that group just has it all and brings out the best in Strome in my opinion.
On the first powerplay on the night stop me if you’ve heard this before Alex Ovechkin scored on the powerplay on a one timer.
This was goal 812 for Ovi and his 32nd goal of the season, and also his 401st goal at home which ties Mike Gartner for 4th most home goals in NHL history.
Also, was great to see former Cap Alexander Semin in attendance looking younger than ever.
After a pretty even 2nd period the Caps got on the board again from a wicked wrister from MJ90 to give the Caps a 2-1 lead.
Johansson’s goal was his 13th of the season and now has 12 goals on the season for the second most on the team trailing Ovi. MJ90 now has 5 points in his last 8 games 3 goals and 2 assists.
Kuemper was pretty locked in all night minus giving up a hard wrist shot by Rust where he should save but he was a little out of position being to far away from his short side post. When he checks the game film he is going to be pissed he let that one in.
After regulation the Caps headed to overtime where Oshie was able to draw a tripping penalty after working his butt off.
With the Caps heading to a 4v3 had multiple chances but no luck after some great scoring chances from Ovi and Oshie.
After a 3-3 tie the Caps headed to the shootout.
Oshie was denied after one to many dangles, then came the slow moving Kuzy which is a beautiful sight to see beat the Pens goalie with at least 28 stick handles.
Kuemper only gave up goals to Rakell and Crosby in the shootout stanza.
When it matter most Kuemper stopped Malkin to end it in D.C. to give the caps the 3-2 win and their first shootout win of the season.
The Caps are now ahead of Pittsburgh with 58 points in the standings.
The Pen’s goalie Casey DeSmith was on his game all night he made a ton of huge saves because this game could have been a blowout if it wasnt for him.
The Caps don’t play at home again till February 12th. Till that occurs the Caps will head to the great white north to face Toronto and Columbus before the All Star break.
The Morning Skate 