Photo: Justin Berl
Look above. That’s a picture of a man who should never have been allowed to leave Washington, DC. He faces off against his former team and your Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center tonight with the rest of the flaming-hot Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens come into town after going 9-1 in their last 10 and that’s without superstar Evgeni Malkin since March 11 and now without starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who has been out with a concussion since the beginning of April. Games between these two teams are always quite the show, and something tells me that even though this is a virtually meaningless game for your Caps, it should be nonetheless entertaining.
Before we get started, did you know that “giant” 5-foot-tall penguins once inhabited the Earth? Carl Hagelin would have had a lot of friends 30 million years ago.
I’m Chris From The Comments. Join me below for the first Live Blog of this year’s Caps season.
Pre-Game
Just in case you forgot:
Trotz confirms Backstrom is in.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 7, 2016
Is this the greatest shirt of all-time?
Shirt of the night: Justin Williams' hair. #CapitalsTalk pic.twitter.com/xquaPmwsCi
— Larry Duvall (@DuvallSpx) April 7, 2016
RMNB’s Deadguins shirt meets Rod Langway
Defend the Capitol!!! @russianmachine #bestshirtever pic.twitter.com/xTtEeXiP9g
— Jamie Strong (@jamiebstrong) April 7, 2016
First Period
The good guys go down 1 in the first minute
It was #JailBreakCity on the Pens 1st goal. Tom Wilson gets beat. Nate Schmidt doesn't realize it's an odd-man break pic.twitter.com/MtZ6GGJscN
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 7, 2016
Tonight's contest? What country are they from? Why are they here? First correct answers gets a autographed puck. pic.twitter.com/XkphQi6SCs
— Ted Leonsis (@TedLeonsis) April 7, 2016
Lets hope Brooks brought some of that famous magic:
The great Brooks Robinson is here at the Caps game tonight. Crowd gives him a standing ovation when he's shown on the big screen. #Orioles
— Ed Frankovic (@EdFrankovic) April 7, 2016
MOAR Deadguins! (From last Caps vs Pens)
Fav part about the caps-pens rivalry is wearing deadguins shirts and beating the pens #capstalk pic.twitter.com/0g59EZjmWk
— Christina Clarke (@ceclarke14) April 7, 2016
Kuzy doing what Kuzy does
This is why Evgeny Kuznetsov's a superstar. He forces turnover, almost scores one-on-three, draws a minor on Letang pic.twitter.com/9Eja58jm5Y
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 7, 2016
CFTC: Outside of a terrible first minute, I’m relatively happy with the home team’s play thus far. The top 6 especially has looked like they could put one home several times. More importantly, any game that has Alan May involved throughout the entire broadcast is a good one in my books. Let us hope we get on the board with the carryover man advantage at the beginning of the 2nd.
Second Period
Matt Cullen strikes short-handed for his 2nd of the game. 2-0 Pens
Just one of those nights #holtbycursed pic.twitter.com/fFwnmuF8Ud
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 8, 2016
CFTC: In my opinion, the Tom Wilson 5 minute major for boarding was completely deserved and I believe that Tom will be hearing from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.
Sheary makes it 3-0 and Jay is getting “fired up”
@russianmachine i'd really hate to burn this beautiful room i have pic.twitter.com/kbPeyRQOyM
— Jay DeLancey (@jay21713) April 8, 2016
Marcus Johansson gets the Caps on the board
Marcus Johansson gets the Caps on the board, cutting the Pens lead to 3-1. What a slap pass by John Carlson. pic.twitter.com/C1A9MWPf8F
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 8, 2016
CC: Steve Simmons
When you're hungry for a hot dog but you have to finish a hockey game first pic.twitter.com/A2LCF5BbyT
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 8, 2016
CFTC: Will I get murdered in the comments for saying that I still don’t think the Caps are necessarily having a bad game? Personally, I think this has been an even match and a few mistakes or bounces here and there have contributed to the current 3-1 scoreline. Get this one tied up boys.
Third Period
Marcus Johansson wakes the Caps up with his 2nd of the night. 3-2 Pens
Sneaking it in under the arm. 1 goal game! #CapsPens pic.twitter.com/o25MytATxU
— Washington Capitals (@washcaps) April 8, 2016
Andre is a perfect human being and the game is 3-3
Bless you, Based Burra pic.twitter.com/URJYQlIK84
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 8, 2016
CFTC: First half of the period was an exhibit in how not to get back into a hockey game. The last half was the exact opposite. The boys secured yet another point on the season. Have to go get the second for Braden now.
Overtime
CFTC: Some dude wearing #87 finishes it for Pittsburgh. We played well in spurts. The Penguins are beatable. Don’t fret my fellow fanatics.
Final score: 4-3 Penguins
[Insert admittedly irrational profanity-laced tirade about the #Caps here]
— William Stilwell (@LoudGoat) April 8, 2016
File into the Post-Game for your nightly comment needs: Here
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