In a game that resembled the entire first round Series against Columbus, the Pittsburgh Penguins withstood an early barrage and responded in dramatic fashion.  Another quick strike second period led the team to ultimately a 6-2 win, and an early series stranglehold.

Forgive the Caps and their fans if they feel like they are choking…..Presidents trophy winners-check, all the experts picking them-check, panic and no answers when things go south against Pittsburgh?  So far….check.

The Penguins haven’t had a 2-0 lead in one of the series recently against Washington.  In ’09 it was 2-0 the other way, and last year it was 1-1.  This is new territory for both teams, and you best believe the angst and teeth gnashing from our Nation’s capital is real.

Marc Andre Fleury made 34 stops on 36 shots.  The Caps attempted 88 shots during the game, five more than Game 1.  35 of those attempts came in the first period alone.

It felt like Ali rope-a-doping Foreman all over again.  And when the Penguins began to counter-punch, they did so in devastating fashion.

This might be a good time to remind folks that it takes four victories to win a best-of-seven series.

— Dave Molinari (@MolinariPG) April 30, 2017

Ok….ok.

Carl Hagelin returned to the line up after a long lower-body related absence.  Less than two minutes in, there was a re-uniting of the HBK line that gave Washington fits last year.  Then you noticed that Kessel also was double-shifting on a line with Malkin and Rust.  Turns out that Conor Sheary, who was dressed, did not see the ice for the first 10-12 minutes of the game.

Coach Sullivan was sending a clear message of un-happiness to the winger.  Picking a road playoff game is a dangerous time to do it.  One would think scratching Sheary instead of Scott Wilson would have been the more prudent move, but hey….Sullivan has a Stanley Cup to his resume, while the Dek hockey team i coach can’t get out of their own way at times so let’s trust his decision.

You knew the refs were going to give the Caps power play opportunities.  One thing about the NHL playoffs is that if you don’t like the way a game is called….complain about it afterwards and the next game….boom.

So Pittsburgh went shorthanded four times in the first half of the game, including under five minutes into the game when Trevor Daley was called for a hook.

The Pens survived that one and the next one to Ian Cole for interference.  Blocking shots, huge saves you had it all.  The Pens were getting wiped out on the shot clock and in the face-off circle.  Pittsburgh was out-shot 16-5 in the frame and STILL had 13 blocks.  One of which felled Patric Hornqvist when it hit him on the ankle.  Horny left the game late in the period and did not return.

Justin Schultz had a brutal period, turnovers up the middle, lost assignments….just bad.  To be completely fair, no one had a great period, and he did right himself in the last 40 minutes.

A huge loss potentially going forward, but it may have changed the game in favor of the Pens in the second.  More on that in a second.

First things first though……

MARC. ANDRE. FLEURY.

What more can you say right now.  He’ll wilt in this series…no.  He stinks on the road….no.  He’s no longer a goalie you can count on…..please

Carry on…..

Period two began the way period one ended with the Pens killing a penalty.  Jake Guentzel went to the box :29 in for a hook.

Enter Matt Cullen.

He blocked a point shot and then worked his way to the puck through the neutral zone and beat Kevin Shattenkirk.  Cullen would fight in on Braden Holtby drawing a penalty (possibly a penalty shot, we’ll never know).  The reason we won’t ever know?

1-0 Pens, just a beautiful effort by the oldest guy on the……

Tie game.  Power play goal

Just like that, Matt Niskanen took advantage of all four Pens being on the same boards and found himself all alone in the slot.  He easily and quickly one-timed the puck home after Ovechkin quickly got him the puck.

After a couple of failed power plays by both teams the juggled lines would work in the Pens favor.

Phil Kessel would end up on Crosby’s line and be the beneficiary of a two on one rush with Sid after Crosby made a ridiculous between the legs reception of a pass that he has made countless times.  Leaving Ovi in his dust, Crosby quickly fed the puck to Phil and he snapped it high past Holtby.  The Penguins were going to receive yet another power play before the goal.  Not needed….2-1 Pens with 6:56 to go in the second period, and the Verizon Center had an all-too-familiar stunned silence.

Crosby → Kessel → pic.twitter.com/jmbP4iGw6w

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 30, 2017

So if you were like me and rolled your eyes at the calls against the Pens, reminder, the Pens would have had three call made for them in their own right, but they never materialized as the Pens scored twice with the delayed call coming.  Technically that made the calls 4-3 at the time.

Three minutes later it would be Jake Guentzel doing it again.  The play started with a Sidney Crosby block in his own zone.  From his stomach, Crosby swept the puck to Guentzel who then raced in on a two on one with Bryan Rust.  Guentzel looked off real quick and then snapped it past Holtby short side for the 3-1 lead.

Holtby was a mess…..rattled….you name it. He played the Guentzel goal like an AHL rookie.  The Caps needed their goalie to bail them out and it wasn’t happening.

Jake Guentzel (7 G in 7 GP) surpassed Bryan Rust (6 G in 23 GP in 2016) for most goals by @penguins rookie in single postseason. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/XZvkHdGd6w

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 30, 2017

It turns out that Caps coach Barry Trotz had seen enough.  He pulled Holtby to start the third and in between the pipes went Phillip Grubauer.  It seemed like a big, panicky-type move from the Caps and it did not pay off.

Shattenkirk wouldn’t help matters as he sent a puck from the far corner of his own zone into the crowd for a delay of game call.  There was no one even near the Caps defenseman.  Just a terrible play and one he would pay for.

Kessel again would find the net as he rolled perfectly out of the far corner and quickly snapped a low wrister through the five-hole for a 4-1 lead with 17:42 to go.

Just over a minute later, Bryan Rust had a chance to rub everyone’s’ nose in it, but he rang the Crosby feed off of the post and the Caps went the other way.  Ovechkin with a nice inside move and a hard shot off of Fleury right to a waiting Nick Backstrom to make it 4-2 with plenty of time left.

But that would soon change.

Ian Cole, two minutes later would put a wrister on net that went off of the shaft of Evgeni Malkin’s stick and in.  The ref immediately waved off the goal and everyone was astonished.  The call was incidental goalie contact  Mike Sullivan quickly challenged the play and after a short review the goal counted.

With it now 5-2 it was all just a matter of time, now.

Tom Wilson would then lose his mind.  After a big (clean) hit on Tom Kuhnhackl, Wilson would engage Nick Bonino and throw a few punches before being given a two and a ten to hit the showers for the night.  This is what you expect from Tom Wilson.  He found the net a couple of times in the Toronto series, sure….but Hellen Keller found her coutch without assistance now and then too.  The guy is a waste of a uniform

But the Penguins didn’t survive unscathed.  Tom Kuhnhackl and Ron Hainsey both were injured blocking shots.  Kuhnhack’s arm and Hainsey’s ear.  On the radio side, Phil Bourque questioned whether the shot that felled Hainsey was an intentional deal by Ovechkin.  Looking at replays it is tough to tell the intent.

Guentzel would wrap up the scoring for the night, adding an empty netter with 42 seconds to play and the Pens fans took to the steps in D.C. yet again.

PARTY ON THE STEPS! pic.twitter.com/NAKeaV7Tq4

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 30, 2017

Guentzel now has a Pen’s rookie record seven playoff goals this Spring, and we are only seven games in.  The kid is pretty good.

Sid passed Mario for the most multiple point games in Pens post-season history.  After being so quiet in this series last year, number 87 has been a dominant force so far through two games.  He and Fleury are just out of their minds now.

The series shifts to Pittsburgh for Monday night, and you KNOW that PPG Paints Arena will be on fire.

You also know that the Caps will bring it hard again in those opening twenty minutes.  Quieting the crowd and getting a lead is paramount to any chances for the Red clad enemy.  Their next lead, by the way, will be their first lead all series.

The Pens survived the predictable penalty kill workout you knew was coming.  Coughing up only Niskanen’s goal on a bad coverage by four guys.  Otherwise as clean night all across the board.

Mike Warren will have your coverage for games 3, 4, and 5.  I’ll be back for either Game Six or the beginning of the Eastern Finals.  Crossing fingers for the later of those scenarios.

Let’s Go Pens!!

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