After an amazing 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, the Pittsburgh Penguins (23-26-9) and Washington Capitals (37-11-8) resumed NHL play inside PPG Paints Arena. It was an emotional afternoon for fans and the Penguins as they honored the late, great Mike Lange prior to puck drop. The Capitals came away with a dominating 8-3 win.
Making 30 saves, Logan Thompson picked up his 25th win of the season. Alex Nedeljkovic had a rough outing as he allowed five goals on 14 shots and was yanked in the loss. Joel Blomqvist made 14 saves on the 17 shots he faced in relief.
Game Recap
Starting a game after most players have been off for nearly two weeks is never easy. That showed to be true as both teams were sloppy through the first four minutes. Despite that, the Capitals opened the scoring at 5:13 as the puck redirected off the skate of Ethen Frank and into the back of the net. The Penguins found life as they held stints of good zone pressure. After an unsuccessful first power play, the Penguins made no mistake capitalizing on their second chance at 18:21. Kris Letang rifled a shot over the shoulder of Thompson, off the crossbar, and into the net to make it a 1-1 game.
The second period was heavily taken over by the Capitals as they put up four goals in the period. Just 1:10 into the middle frame, Martin Fehérváry put the Capitals up 2-1. After leading Team Canada to another championship just two days ago, Sidney Crosby’s magic continued as his backhander squeaked through Thompson to tie the game at two. Jakob Chychrun tallied a pair of goals in just under four minutes to put the Capitals up 4-2. Aliaksei Protas made it 5-2 to chase Nedeljkovic from the net. Facing just his second shot since entering the game, Blomqvist was beat to the blocker side thanks to a Tom Wilson tip right in front to make it a 6-2 game.
Though up by four, the Capitals did not let off the gas as they tacked on a seventh goal on the power play with Dylan Strome’s 17th of the season at 13:11. In what was eventually a consolation goal at 14:22, Danton Heinen put home a Philip Tomasino rebound to make it a 7-3 game. Washington added an eighth at 17:19 with Brandon Duhaime’s seventh goal of the season.
Both teams are right back at it tomorrow (Feb. 23). The Capitals head back to the nation’s capital as they take on the Edmonton Oilers. The Penguins remain on home ice as they welcome the New York Rangers.
