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Capitals Rally Falls Short, Lose To Penguins, 4-3; Alex Ovechkin Scores 42nd Goal Of The Season

By Jon Sorensen·
Photo: NHL via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The loss drops the Capitals record to 34-32-8 (76 points) on the season.

After a scoreless first frame, the Penguins added two goals in the second period and a goal early in the final frame to take a 3-0 lead. The Capitals finally dented the twine early in the third period with a goal from Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin added a power play tally with less than seven minutes remaining in the game to make it 3-2.

Dylan Strome scored the tying goal with less than three minutes left in regulation, but the The Penguins regained the lead with less than 90 seconds remaining to make it 4-3, the final.

STARTERS

Darcy Kuemper (21-22-0-5, 2.74 GAA, .912 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Capitals. Casey DeSmith (13-15-0-4, 3.11 GAA, .907 sv%) got the start in goal for the Penguins. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Craig Smith
Conor Sheary — Nic Dowd — Aube-Kubel

Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Nick Jensen
Alex Alexeyev — Trevor van Riemsdyk

Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

FIRST PERIOD

The Penguins were the benefactors of two early power plays in the first 10 minutes of play, but the Capitals 5th-raked penalty kill was up to the task, killing both of the Penguins’ early man advantages.

The Capitals were awarded their first man advantage with 5:32 remaining in the first period, but were unable to convert.

There was no score after 20.

The Capitals controlled possession in the early going, but the Penguins took control at the 8 min. mark. The Penguins led in five-on-five shot attempts, 17-10, scoring chances, 10-5, high-danger chances, 8-3 and xGF 1.39 to .65.

SECOND PERIOD

The Penguins finally broke the seal on the scoring midway through the final frame. Ryan Poehling roofed a shot off the breakaway at the 10:10 mark of the second to give the Pens a 1-0 lead.

The Penguins quickly made it 2-0. Chad Ruhwedel dented the twine for his first goal of the season at 12:10 of the middle frame.

Rasmus Sandin and Archibald dropped the gloves late in the period.

And that was it for the middle frame.

THIRD PERIOD

The Penguins extended their lead to 3-0 early in the final frame. Jake Guentzel scored a power play goal just 27 seconds into the final frame. Guentzel collected a loose puck and ended up all alone on a breakaway, beating Kuemper five-hole.

The Capitals finally got on the scoreboard early in the the final frame with a four-on-four goal from Tom Wilson (9) at 5:19 of the third period.

The Capitals closed the gap to 3-2 on a power play goal from Alex Ovechkin (42) at 13:18 of the final frame.

The Capitals tied the game with a goal from Dylan Strome (18) with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.

But the Penguins scored with less than 90 seconds remaining, to make it 4-3, the final. Evgenii Malkin scored the go ahead goal at 18:40. It would be the game winner.

SHAVINGS

  • Tom Wilson scored his ninth goal of the season to cut the deficit to 3-1. Wilson has recorded five points (1g, 4a) in his last four games. It marks Wilson’s 10th goal in 38 games against Pittsburgh, the most goals he has scored against a single opponent in his career.
  • Evgeny Kuznetsov recorded the primary assist on Wilson’s goal, his team-leading 41st assist of the season. Twenty-four of Kuznetsov’s assists this season have been primaries.
  • Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play to cut the deficit to 3-2. It marks Ovechkin’s 42nd goal of the season, the 822nd of his career and his 299th career power-play goal
  • Ovechkin has scored 50 percent of his goals this season (21 of 42) in the third period.