The Washington Capitals kicked off their second round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the best possible way …before an inevitable and foretold collapse in the third period cost them Game One.
It took all of 17 seconds for the Caps to strike: a ferocious drive by Kuznetsov after master-tier passes from Ovechkin and Wilson. The game did not settle after that, but the scoreboard got quiet until early in the third, when Wilson fed Ovechkin on a two-on-one to put the Caps up two goals. Take a deep breath there.
So. Patric Hornqvist and Sidney Crosby erased that lead with a tip-in and a one-timer before the period was six minutes old. The tie did not last long either. Jake Guentzel got a deflection off a Crosby dump-in that Holtby didn’t lock down properly. That was it.
Penguins beat Caps 3-2. Penguins lead the series 1-0.
- Can you imagine a better start to a game and series? Wilson to Ovechkin to Kuzy to the back of the net before the game was twenty seconds old. Marking Evgeny Kuznetsov’s fifth of the postseason, the goal got Capital One Arena exactly buckwild enough to compliment the buckwilderness that was the first period.
- Forty-six shot attempts, 15 of them on goal, 10 of them highly dangerous – the first period was messy and I loved it. Except the Penguins got the edge in quality, and I suppose that was what spurred the Caps to slow the game down in the second. That strategy worked, as Washington controlled play excellently (owning roughly 60 percent of attempts/chances) in the middle frame.
Tom Wilson's interference penalty on Sidney Crosby pic.twitter.com/ORMj5bRJ9i
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 27, 2018
- Tom Wilson committed a penalty, interference, and was punished for it. What he did — basically pulling down Crosby into the boards as he lost a battle – is a justifiable whistle all day, every day, twice on Sundays, unless it’s a tie game in the third period of the playoff, when I’m pretty sure you could stab someone and not go a man down.
- If the Caps did go a man down for killing someone, they would probably kill the ensuing penalty as well. They’ve killed 18 straight. Eighteen and a half maybe.
- I want to highlight TJ Oshie, who was not playing like a person nursing a concussion and a nagging back injury. Oshie played a physical game, but never at the expense of driving play. In the foot of real estate above Barry Trotz’s neck lives the platonic ideal of Trotz hockey – a conservative but physically punishing style that previous Caps rosters could execute perfectly. Oshie delivered that in Game One.
- Alex Ovechkin‘s third-period goal provided his 100th playoff point in his 104th playoff game. The spiritual twin of Kuznetsov’s first period, it was an odd-man rush during even-strength – the kind of play that lifted Pittsburgh to a series win last year despite getting outplayed on balance.
- On second thought, two-goal leads are a silly thing. Let’s not get them.
- How exactly did the Caps lose that two-goal lead so fast? Bad bounces primarily, but also a creeping passivity around Holtby’s net, where the Caps D’s hostility was so successful in the first round. Prior to the collapse, the Caps had a 90 percent chance to win. Ten minutes later it was just over 10 percent.
Classic Caps https://t.co/SBVcERifBF pic.twitter.com/1tARnIrcsb
— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) April 27, 2018
- This is mostly a curiosity: Dmitry Orlov was on the ice for every goal scored by both teams. So too was Sidney Crosby. It’s their show.
- The Caps weren’t getting any whistles to go their way until Devante Smith-Pelly gave a subtle performance reminiscent of one Mr. Michael Stuhlbarg on a high stick from Jake Guentzel. It’s not too early for Oscar buzz.
- Matt Murray made a save in the last two minutes that I refuse to believe. Don’t show me a highlight. I want that save to belike my Sasquatch, a fuzzy and vaguely remembered waking nightmare.
(I miss Joe B’s suit of the night. I wonder what he’s wearing right now. I’m thinking teal velour jumpsuit.)
Welp. I’m debating whether it’s cynical of me to note how typical this kind of performance is from Washington at this time of year – or if it’d be naive of me to pretend it isn’t. Either way, this happened. The Caps put their best foot forward, tripped on their shoelaces, and ate shit. They did it in the exact fashion that had plagued them all season long: an utter failure to string together a full hour of competitive hockey. Deserving most of the blame is Braden Holtby, who certainly should have locked down that post better on the third goal. He’ll be better in Game Two.
Headline photo: Bruce Bennett
