So… that was a pretty banner. K, got that out of the way.
The game got off to a furious start. Within the first minute, Chris Kunitz got sprung for a breakaway, which was brilliantly broken up by Dmitry Orlov. The Pens came on too hot and puck went the other way. Nicklas Backstrom delivered a tasty saucer pass over Trevor Daley’s stick and sweet sweet Andre Burakovsky fired a wrist shot into the back of the net. One paragraph for fifty-nine seconds
Later into the period Tom Kuhnhackl did a bad thing, which led to some pushing and then Tom Wilson got punched in the shoulder because I don’t know.
The second period was boring until the Caps got hit with an unlucky too many men penalty and Patric Hornqvist deflected it past Braden Holtby.
Late in the frame Evgeny Malkin took advantage of so effuppery by Orlov and TJ Oshie in their own zone. Geno was in all alone and Braden kicked the puck in with the back of his leg.
But Backstrom was at it again. In the third, he made a drop pass of the dead gorgeous vanity, once against to Burakovsky, who tired the game at two.
The game went to a heart-stopping overtime, but that led to nothing.
TJ did his thing in the shootout. Malkin responded. So did Letang. Nicky put the shootout into extra frames. Phil the Thrill won it. Pens beat Caps 3-2 (SO)
- Tonight’s contest was feisty. A fight, lots of grabbing and shoving, and a WWE takedown. This game made me mention professional wrestling. That annoys me.
- Nicklas Backstrom (🇸🇪) and Andre Burakovsky (🇸🇪) are MFEO. Two fantastic passes. Two snipes. The Tre Kroner line is lovely. I’m pro second line Nick. They dominated possession, as did the first line of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and TJ Oshie. All 60+ percent shot-attempts for. Myriad of SOGs too.
- The third line, featuring newcomers Lars Eller and Zach Sanford, was solid. Justin Williams, the other member of the trio, wasn’t so hot, but Eller and Sanford were good on the nerd chart. Eller hit the post twice, including once in overtime, and drew a penalty. Nice debut, friend. Sanford was also good in his inaugural NHL match, though he made an oops no-look pass late in the third.
- Some nice games from members of the D corps. Nate Schmidt was a constant offensive threat, jumping into, and often finishing, the rush all night. Nate had three breakaways, at least one of which was not really a breakaway, but if Peter can make up words I can make up facts. Three breakaways for Smitty. Be afraid.
- Meanwhile, the offensive pair of John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov. Nearly 70 percent of shot attempts went Washington’s way with Carlson on the ice. Orlov was nearly as good. J-Car had five shots on goal, more than any Penguins player, and eight shot attempts.
- Marc-Andre Flurey, who was out of a job and rumored trade bait the last time the Penguins played, was brilliant, making 39 saves. Inspired goaltending performance. He won the game for Pittsburgh.
- NHL coaches now walk on TVs on the bench. What a world.
- I don’t care about the Nationals. Sue me.
Pickles and Slurpee of the Night.
The Caps were the better team. They lost. Welcome back to NHL hockey.
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