Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images
The Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 Sunday night at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. T.J. Oshie opened the scoring in the first period and Dmitri Orlov sniped a tally in the second period to give the Caps a 2-0 lead at the second intermission. Tom Wilson would make it 3-0 just 23 second into the final frame and Pittsburgh would add a late goal for the 3-1 final. The Capitals are back in action Monday night when they visit the Blues in St. Louis. Puck drop is 8:00 p.m.
STARTERS
Philipp Grubauer (14-9-3, 2.34 GAA, .923 sv%) started in goal for the visiting Capitals. Matt Murray (26-15-3, 2.89 GAA, .907 sv%) started between the pipes for the Penguins. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Forwards:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Burakovsky-Backstrom-Oshie
Vrana-Eller-DSP
Stephenson-Beagle-Connolly
Defensive Pairs:
Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-Jerabek
Scratches: Shane Gersich, Alex Chiasson and Christian Djoos.
FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals opened the scoring with a breakaway goal from T.J. Oshie at 6:25 of the opening frame. The goal was setup by a nice feed from Andre Burakovsky. John Carlson had the second helper.
The period would see no other tallies. The Capitals outshot the Penguins 13-11 for the first 20 minutes. Both teams were 0 for 1 on the power play.
Jay Beagle left the game midway through the period with a lower body injury and would not return to the game.
SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals killed-off a 5-on-3 Penguins power play at the eight minute mark of the middle frame, keeping the score 1-0.
The Capitals would advance their lead to 2-0 with a blast from the point by Dmitri Orlov at 13:46 of the second period.
The period would end with the Capitals leading 2-0. Pittsburgh outshot the Caps 15-11 for the middle frame, and led 26-24 after 40 minutes of play. The Penguins were 0 for 4 on the power play in the second period, including a 5-on-3.
THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals would quickly stretch their lead to 3-0 with a deflected goal by Tom Wilson just 23 seconds into the final frame.
The Capitals would begin to lock it down from that point forward, making it difficult for the Penguins to enter the Caps zone.
The Penguins would finally find the back of the net at 16:15 of the final frame with a goal by Patric Hornqvist, making it 3-1.
SHAVINGS
- With the win the Capitals clinched their third straight Metropolitan Division title.
- The Capitals have recorded their fourth consecutive season with at least 100 points. That’s the first time in franchise history Washington has recorded four consecutive seasons with at least 100 points.
- The NHL box score is here.
SCENES FROM PITTSBURGH