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What a disappointing loss for the Washington Capitals. Although there were a few bad calls and a few missed calls, unlike yesterday's game against the Boston Bruins, the game was not literally handed to the opposition by the officials. Rather, it was a few misplays and mental lapses by Cap's who otherwise played extremely well against the Pittsburgh Penguins today.
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You knew, coming into this game, that it would be a very physical one. These two teams obviously hate each other. All the Capitals were hitting Penguins every chance they got in the first period. My personal favorite was the Shaone Morrisonn hit on Sidney Crosby. Washington also outshot Pittsburgh 11-4. They got plenty of time in the offensive zone, especially at the end of the first. However, they did not get the puck past Pittsburgh's netminder Marc-Andre Fleury..
The Capitals continued to play with a high level of energy in the second period. Early in the period, Viktor Kozlov hit pipe with a hard shot. His reward would be an uncalled slash by a Penguin. Brooks Laich, who has been playing really well lately, gave up the body in front of Caps' goalie Cristobal Huet to block a shot. In the Penguins' end shortly after that, Alexander Semin took the puck across the ice and shot it toward the net. Laich was at the front of the net to deflect it in, putting the Cap's on the scoreboard first. That makes two games in a row that Brooks got the first goal of the game, both on the power play. But, Pitt's Petr Sykora answered back just over a minute later. His shot barely got through Huet, who should've been able to stop it easily. That would be Huet's only real mistake of the game. At 12:19, Washington's Shaone Morrisonn got called for tripping on a Pascal Dupuis dive. But, the Cap's killed off the penalty. Of course, the league doesn't like to see Sidney Crosby get called for penalties. So, when he made sure he bumped into Cristobal Huet while skating through Washington's crease, there was no call.
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If you watched the game on NBC, I hope you remembered to have a bucket or a large barf bag at the ready. Dick Doc Emerick and Eddie Upchuck Olczyk have to be the worst announcers in the business. Toward the end of the second period, an "interesting" question (among other things) was brought up. Edso, as the great Joe Beninati refers to him (though he's probably thinking of a similar sounding term - a$$#0!<) was asked who is better defensively, Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin? Olczyk said that Crosby was slightly better because he's a center, while Ovechkin is a winger. What?....uhhh.....What?
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Getting back to reality and the last few moments of the second period, the game's intensity keep on going. It was exciting when Washington's forward Matt Bradley got a breakaway. It was infuriating when he was hauled down after his shot at the net, with no penalty called. Equally upsetting was Crosby's five hole goal, shot off an Evgeni Malkin rebound. Within the last 1:05 of period two, Capitals' center Nicklas Backstrom drew a crosscheck penalty from Pitt's Hal Gill and a roughing (elbow) penalty from Brooks Orpik. Alex Semin made good use of the 5 on 3 advantage, with a PP goal 13.2 seconds before the end of the period. Semin showed great patience, going back and forth between backhand and forehand. Even though Fleury was waiting for the shot, Alex flicked in the wrister so fast that he could only look behind himself in disbelief. After two periods, the Cap's were still ahead in most stats. However, much like the 2-2 score, the hit totals were about even.
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About six minutes into the third period is when Cap's defenseman Tom Poti did something which looked odd to me. Deep in Washington's end, he basically let Crosby skate by him like he was a teammate. Plehhh!...Phleehhh!....Uuuhhh. Where's that barf bag?! Please excuse that. I'm back now. Luckily, when the puck inevitably got to Sid and he drove to the net, Huet was a brick wall this time. Poti played exceptionally, otherwise. Both goalie Huet and defenseman John Erskine then thwarted scoring attempts from Pitt's Tyler Kennedy, Maxime Talbot and eventually Jordan Staal. Then, Pittsburgh was given a gift by a referee who called a penalty on Washington's Quintin Laing for a supposed knee on knee infraction. It was B.S. when it was called on Matt Cooke yesterday, and it was B.S. when it was called on Laing today! Nothing came of it. But, the continually bad officiating has just kept on showing up around the league since the beginning last season. After blocking another shot with his body, Laich cleared the puck.
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It was a shame the Cap's couldn't score after a Penguins' too many men on the ice penalty. But, the biggest shame of the whole game happened with 28.4 seconds left in the third period. Nicklas Backstom was standing by the net when the puck found it's way to him. He swung his stick in the wrong direction while attempting to clear it, sending the puck right by a surprised Cristobal Huet. Crosby got credit for the goal, since it was decided by the scoring officials that he was the last Penguin to touch the puck. One glaring mistake in an otherwise brilliant game by the Capitals' rookie center. A couple degrees more to the right, and it could have been a game saving play. Down by one and with less than half a minute left in regulation, Huet was pulled from Washington's net for the extra skater. I so desperately hate this move with every last fiber of my soul! It almost never works, especially for the Cap's. Inevitably, Staal scored the empty net goal with 13 seconds left on the clock.
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Another nationally televised loss for the Capitals. Which, almost automatically means another loss to the Penguins. Another loss at a chance for two more standings points. Was it a loss of their final chance at making a run for the playoffs this season? I hope not. But, it sure doesn't help.
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All Photos - Linda Spillers / AP
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