The Washington Capitals put up consecutive terrible performances against the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers earlier in the week. So how would they respond against rival Pittsburgh, Saturday?

Like a buzzsaw, apparently.

The Capitals scored three unanswered goals to start the game, feasting on poor defense by the Penguins.

Nic Dowd goal, 1-0

One minute and fifty-two seconds into the game, the Capitals struck first. After a perfect trapezoidal play, Garnet Hathaway found Nic Dowd in front of the net for a one-timer, easily beating Matt Murray.

Nic Dowd puts the Capitals up 1-0 1:52 into the game pic.twitter.com/0hmlLgVpMN

— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 7, 2020

What a passing play by the fourth line. With assists on the goal, Garnet Hathaway now has points in three-straight games and Richard Panik has points in four-straight.

Nicklas Backstrom goal, 2-0

The Capitals struck again later in the period after Nicklas Backstrom scored on a beautiful rush down the ice. Again, the goal was predicated on good passing.

“That was a nice feed by V there,” Backstrom said. “Oshie started that play from the blue line.”

Nicklas Backstrom makes it 2-0 after some perfect passing by the second line pic.twitter.com/9x31EAxIiR

— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 7, 2020

Backstrom on scoring: “I don’t do that often, but I like it when I do!”

Richard Panik goal, 3-0

Finally, two minutes later, the fourth line struck again. On another great passing play, Nic Dowd and Richard Panik skated down on a two-on-one break. Instead of forcing a play, Dowd hit the trail man, Nick Jensen, as the Capitals defenseman ambled into the zone. With Matt Murray out on top of his crease challenging, Jensen dished to Panik on the right circle for the goal.

The Capitals did exhibit a lack of discipline in the first period. They gave the Penguins a minute and a half of a five-on-three after Brenden Dillon took an interference call and the Capitals as a team took a too many men penalty on the resulting PK.

But beyond that, the Capitals were dominant. They outshot the penguins 12-6 and out-attempted them 19-15. They also had more hits 15-8.

When asked if that was the most complete period the team has played in a long time, Nicklas Backstrom said, “Yeah I think so. That’s how we have to play.”

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Penguins

Headline photo courtesy of NBC Sports Washington