Alex Ovechkin and Washington Capitals fall to Pittsburgh Penguins - Washington, DC February 3, 2013.
Photo © Nick Wass / AP Photo.
Photo © Nick Wass / AP Photo.
Pittsburgh Penguins 6 Vs Washington Capitals 3 = Home Game Loss
Super Sunday wasn't so super for the struggling Washington Capitals, whose quality of play dropped, as they dropped a game against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on February 3, 2013.
Braden Holtby, minded the net for Washington, in his second straight start. He clearly wasn't having a good day, but his teammates didn't help him out very well either. They could have done a better job clearing Pittsburgh from the crease area in front of Holtby, and sometimes there were Caps screening him on Pens shots. Other times he was left exposed on wristers coming through wide open spaces.
Penalties usually figure into Capitals losses, and especially against the Penguins, but this time was different. There were a couple cheap calls, but for the first time since I can remember, Pittsburgh actually got penalized more than Washington. Mind you, we're talking 4 - 3, so a difference of one. One might say the only reason for the lack of Caps punishments was because Pittsburgh went ahead and didn't need the help, but "I couldn't possibly comment" on that.
Chris Kunitz (LW) had a good day for the Penguins, as he scored a four goals, with at least one in each period. He was the first to score in the game at three minutes in, and he also got the last goal, with only eight seconds left. Washington's scoring was spread out to three players.
The Capitals' first goal came at even-strength, in the first period. After being knocked down against the end wall, defenseman Mike Green eventually got up, and found himself wide open for a one-timer off a pass from Wojtek Wolski (LW). The play started when Mike Ribeiro (C) sent the puck to Wolski, from a scrum at the side-wall.
Kunitz' first goal was a deflection off of defenseman John Carlson, but he made up for that. Four minutes into the second, Carlson took a pass from Nicklas Backstrom (C) and bounced one in off the glass, while just trying to clear and make time for a line change. Pittsburgh goaltender Tomas Vokoun (former Cap) wasn't half-surprised, as he headed behind the net, where he expected the puck to go.
The last goal for Washington came in the third period, after Alex Ovechkin just barely kept the puck from getting out of the offensive zone, during a Caps' possession. His keep-in sent the puck to Troy Brouwer (RW), who passed it along to Mike Ribeiro. Ribeiro, amongst a huge traffic jam in front of Vokoun, tapped it in.
In the end, it was an ugly game. Made uglier if you watched it on NBC, and were tortured by the patronizing and Capitals hating Doc Emrick, and crew. We really need to get rid of the long radio time-delay, so we can listen to the lovely voice of John Walton, while watching the games only aired on NBC.
Caps Postgame Locker Room 02/03/13: Caps players Troy Brouwer, John Carlson, Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin and Braden Holtby address the media after a 6-3 loss to the Penguins.
Adam Oates Postgame 02/03/13: Caps head coach Adam Oates addresses the media after a 6-3 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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