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Capitals vs Penguins live analysis and updates (March 25, 2023)

By Ian Oland

 1 Comment

March 25, 2023 7:58 pm

This is your place to check for updates and comment along with the Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins game on March 25, 2023.

The Washington Capitals have another “big” game as they try to avoid being officially eliminated from the playoffs. Tonight the Capitals take on rival Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena. A loss would virtually end Washington’s chase.

Pittsburgh currently sits in the second wild card spot with 80 standings points. The Capitals, who sit in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, trail the Penguins by four with 10 games remaining. The Capitals would also have to leapfrog Florida (79 standings points) and Buffalo (76 standings points) and continue to stay ahead of the Ottawa Senators (75 standings points).

Tonight’s game is on ABC and ESPN+. Puck drop is a little after 8 pm.

Links

Lines

Tunnel Shenanigans

1st Period

Ovechkin-Strome-Wilson and Fehervary-Carlson get the start. Darcy Kuemper will oppose Casey DeSmith in net.

Both teams came out very hard in their opening shifts.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel takes the game’s first penalty for holding.

TJ Oshie to the box for high-sticking. That’s back-to-back penalties for the Capitals.

The Capitals kill off both penalties.

Kris Letang to the box for tripping Alex Ovechkin. The Caps get their first power play.

The first period ends how it began 0-0. The Penguins outshot the Capitals 13-9. The Penguins out-attempted the Capitals 17-10 at 5v5. They hold an expected goals advantage of 1.75 to 1.12.

2nd Period

Casey DeSmith goes to a full split to stop John Carlson on a wide open two-on-one.

🚨 1-0 Penguins. Ryan Poehling zooms by Rasmus Sandin and lofts the puck over Darcy Kuemper to the high part of the net. The goal came 10:10 into the period.

🚨 2-0 Penguins. Chad Ruhwedel scores on a two-on-one. That’s his first goal of the season. The Penguins have two goals in 2:07.

A real feisty fight between Rasmus Sandin and Josh Archibald. Archibald won the fight handily. Sandin was trying to turn the game around.

Alex Ovechkin is stopped on a breakaway by DeSmith’s outstretched pad.

The Capitals get four shots in the final seconds as Martin Fehervary and Conor Sheary go down on a two-on-one shorthanded with Penguins the only defender back. DeSmith stopped every shot, unbelievably, to keep the Penguins up 2-0 at the buzzer.

The Penguins are leading in shots on goal 29-23. The Penguins are leading in 5v5 shot attempts 35-33. The Penguins are leading in expected goals 3.00 to 2.54.

3rd Period

🚨 3-0 Penguins. Tom Wilson tried to send a back pass to John Carlson, but the puck jumped over Carly’s stick, springing Jake Guentzel on a breakaway.

Jason Zucker and Martin Fehervary both down to the locker room after they crash hard into the end boards. Fehervary dove to break up a chance for Zucker, wiping them both out and careening into the boards.

🚨 3-1 Penguins. The Capitals are on the board. Kris Letang turns it over to Evgeny Kuznetsov, who finds Tom Wilson in front of the net for a tap-in.

🚨 3-2 Penguins. Alex Ovechkin scores on the power-play. It’s his 822nd career goal.

🚨 3-3 tie. Dylan Strome ties it up after he finds his own rebound after skating around the net.

🚨 4-3 Penguins. Evgeni Malkin scores on a breakaway after a horrendous turnover by Anthony Mantha.

Game over. Penguins win.

Comment below. Refresh this article throughout the night as we’ll be updating it live.

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