The Washington Capitals didn’t have their best game Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins so in response, they decided to reverse that and dominate the puck all Thursday night against those same Pens. The Caps came out on top by a final score of 5-2 after some late, scary back and forth on the scoreboard.
The Caps outshot the Pens 35 to 28 and out-attempted them at five-on-five 55 to 37.
By Chris Cerullo 7 days ago
Tom Wilson was whistled for a two-minute interference minor in the Capitals’ 5-2 win over the Penguins on Thursday. Wilson was penalized after delivering a late hit to Penguins’ forward Mark Jankowski.
The Capitals screamed from the bench in frustration that officials made a call while the Penguins were furious with what they thought was another dirty hit by Wilson. Penguins center Evgeni Malkin skated over to the penalty box while Jankowski struggled to get up and exchanged words with Wilson.
So what did they say?
Malkin “just came over to have a chat,” Wilson explained. “When it’s that quiet in there, you can have those conversations.”
According to beat writers who were at Capital One Arena, there was a lot more spiciness coming from the chirping hockey players.
By Ian Oland 1 week ago
The Washington Capitals were blessed by the Hockey Gods Thursday night against the Penguins.
Kris Letang’s sticks broke during two of his final four shifts of the game. The stick breaks led directly to Capitals goals, including Tom Wilson’s game-winning power-play tally.
Ignore what our dear Capitals posted on Twitter. Kris Letang’s broken sticks were the first star of the game.
Against the Penguins on Thursday night, your Washington Capitals did what Washington Capitals do: obtain lead, blow lead, repeat. But this time there was a twist. I won’t spoil it for you, but it was Tom Wilson.
Offensive dynamo Nick Jensen set up white-hot Nick Backstrom for a good goal early in the game, but then the rest of the first period and all of the second passed without any more scoring. TJ Oshie scored a thrilling goal to open up the third period, but Brandon Tanev’s shorthanded goal followed close behind. Then Jake Guentzel got a greasy goal and all of a sudden the lead was fully blown.
As per the Prophecy, the game was won by Tom Wilson with a low-down tap-in on the power play. Carl Hagelin scores as only Carl Hagelin can: with an empty netter. Eller added another.
Caps win!
By Peter Hassett 1 week ago
TJ Oshie just added some fine frames to his highlight reel.
Falling headlong towards Pittsburgh’s net, Oshie managed to pool-shot the puck into the net.
It had shades of The Goal.
By Ian Oland 1 week ago
Tom Wilson remains one of the most feared and frequent hitters in the NHL; his 59 hits coming into Thursday’s Capitals-Pens game ranked him ninth among all forwards. But Wilson, years removed from several NHL suspensions, has passed on delivering hits that are more borderline.
Not Thursday against the Penguins.
Late in the first period, Wilson took an interference minor (that could have been a major penalty) after blowing up Mark Jankowski in the neutral zone with a late hit.
By Ian Oland 1 week ago
Nicklas Backstrom has spent the last 14 seasons in the shadow of Alex Ovechkin, but this year, Nicke is different. The elite playmaker has become the elite finisher.
Thursday against the Penguins, Backstrom hit the back of the net again. And it was a very pretty goal.
A long homestand for the Washington Capitals is coming to an end this evening when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Yes, again. This is their sixth match-up of the season already and the Penguins are 4-1-0 against the Caps this season.
Something else happening again? Coach Laviolette is messing with the lines. Top line Conor Sheary? Evgeny Kuznetsov back up top? What the hell, sure, why not.
Puck drop is at 7 PM and Peter will have your recap.
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By Elyse Bailey 1 week ago
Henrik Lundqvist took to Twitter on Thursday to clarify his status after returning to the ice in full goalie gear earlier in the week.
“Going to the rink this week has been very rewarding,” Lundqvist wrote. “My health is obviously my No.1 priority. It will be months before I can make any decisions regarding my future after more tests/convos with Doctors. The one thing I do know with 100% certainty is that I still love the game.”
The Washington Capitals will wear special black jerseys during warmups Thursday to honor Black History Night at Capital One Arena. On each shoulder, there’s a Players Against Hate end racism shoulder patch.
“There’s only one way to put it: racism is completely unacceptable,” Tom Wilson said to The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir, “and (wearing the jerseys) shows that we want to bring people together.”
