Orlov gets two goals: Caps beat Pens 4-3

February 1, 2022 9:53 pm

The Washington Capitals got positively pulverized by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night, but scoreboard don’t care. Scoreboard do it ownnnn thinggggg.

Nic Dowd started off the scoring with an early shorthanded goal, so we should have known the vibes were off already. Evgeni Malkin scored on that same power play, then the Pens added another power-play goal off Bryan Rust, beating Nick Jensen at the far post. Dmitry Orlov capped off a rush attack from Conor Sheary to tie the game at two goals apiece after one period.

Bryan Rust scored his second goal of the game, again on the power play, in the second period. The Pens had the Caps on the ropes, but Daniel Sprong managed to tie it up late in the period.

Nothing happened in the third period, so at least the Caps snagged one point from this mess of a game and then stole a second point with Dmitry Orlov’s OTGWG.

Caps win 4-3 in overtime!

The Capitals got absolutely dominated during five-on-five play, with the Penguins more than doubling up the Caps in offense. The Pens skated faster, they passed better, and they pressured nearly every zone exit. The saving grace was that the officials were so free with their whistles, so much of this game was played on special teams.
The Penguins were also vastly better than the Capitals there too. The Pittsburgh power play makes Washington’s look like a still-life painting. Like an oil painting of a pear sitting on a table. That’s the Caps. And the Pens PP is a 4K UHD version of Speed Racer (2008).
Vitek Vanecek started in net, but he left the game just five minutes in, following a collision with Pittsburgh forward Kasperi Kapanen. The Caps say he has an upper-body injury. We don’t know, but it’s possible he was pulled off the ice due to the concussion protocol.
I’m not eager for a resumption of goalie uncertainty. I’d really prefer if the team had two reliable goalies they could tie together like a braid, and whole be they the goalie roster that ideally would bray, then hold behind the team’s skaters.
Ilya Samsonov was good in a very challenging game (nearly 50 shots faced). He delivered the team to OT and made a monster save against Sidney Crosby during three-on-three.
Nic Dowd scored a should-of-been goal in the second period, but the officials nuked it from orbit, saying Dowd did a goalie interference with his “significant presence in the crease.” I dunno. Seems more like Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry just successfully worked the refs there.

Daniel Sprong committed two restraining penalties in the first period, but his big goal in the second nullified his sins. Sprong’s goal is Washington’s 12th “McNugget Minute” goal of the season. Ugh, I feel dirty. I never like using the name. It’s not like McDonald’s is paying us.
It’s official: Alex Ovechkin is having a lull. No points in the last four games.

pic.twitter.com/m7v9maxTy6

— Good Tweet Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) February 1, 2022

Commanders is a horrible name and therefore perfect for that horrible organization. You just know they had better options but were too cheap to pay for them. We’re all just living in the time before Dan Snyder gets the Donald Sterling treatment.