PITTSBURGH, PA – Be it ever so humble – and worthy of defending – there’s no place like home.
Facing an almost must-win situation, the Pittsburgh Penguins utilized a three-goal outburst in the first period and hard work in the third to defend their home ice. By defeating the Washington Capitals 5-3 in Game 4 at the Mellon Arena the Penguins tied their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series at two games each. The teams have no time to rest as Game 5 of the series is Saturday night in Washington with Game 6 set for Monday back in Pittsburgh.
Both teams had to be well aware of the fact that the team that scored first in each of the first three games had lost that game. It didn’t seem to matter to the Capitals as they opened the scoring. Just 36 seconds in Alexander Semin intercepted a Chris Kunitz pass and sent it forward to Nicklas Backstrom. Backstrom drove into the Pittsburgh end and his drive from the near circle appeared to change directions slightly – possibly off the stick of Kris Letang – and slipped past Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to give Washington the early lead.
A Chris Clark cross-checking penalty at the 1:58 mark gave Pittsburgh a power play and they made it pay off. Near the end of the man advantage, defenseman Sergei Gonchar rushed through center ice into the Capitals’ zone. For some reason, the Washington defenders backed off, giving Gonchar a clear shot at Simeon Varlamov in the Washington net. Gonchar let loose with a wicked slat shot that beat Varlamov between the legs at 3:55 to tie the game.
The game started to open up with action going up and down the ice. Capitals’ forward Sergei Fedorov had two golden opportunities during the sequence, one that caught the iron to the stick side of Fleury and one that the Penguins’ netminder made a spectacular save on.
Shortly after the Fleury save, Pittsburgh was able to get pressure and it resulted in a score. Bill Guerin started the play by deftly keeping the puck in the Capitals’ end. He got it to Kunitz who got the puck to Sidney Crosby who was cruising down the slot. Crosby’s first shot hit the side of the net but he was able to quickly get the disc back and fire on Varlamov who made the save. The rebound slid to the opposite side where Guerin stuffed it home at the 10:47 mark to put Pittsburgh in front.
The Penguins continued to pin the Capitals back on their defensive side of the ice. They took advantage of a four-on-four situation to push the lead to 3-1 with just under five minutes left in the stanza. Ruslan Fedotenko took the puck in the neutral zone and headed into the Washington zone. As he hit the high slot, he let a shot go that Varlamov misplayed with his glove, allowing the puck past it for the goal. The period ended with Pittsburgh up by two.
The second period was largely uneventful. Despite Pittsburgh having three power plays in the first 13 minutes of the period while Washington had one plus a carryover from the first, shots were at a premium as the defenses tightened up.
The Capitals were able to pull themselves within one at the 15:08 mark. Alexander Ovechkin had the puck in the Pittsburgh zone and drew the attention of two Penguins. When that happened, he slid a pass to teammate Mike Green coming in from the point. Green’s drive was stopped by Fleury but the rebound dropped into the crease where Chris Clark jumped on it and poked it home. It was the lone tally of the period, leaving the Penguins clinging to a one goal lead heading for the third.
Pittsburgh knew that a one goal lead was not a safe thing with Ovechkin and the boys on the other bench. They desperately needed some insurance and they appeared to get it at the 4:16 mark of the third. Rob Scuderi dug the puck out in his defensive end and sent Miroslav Satan and Crosby away on a two-on-one break. Satan drew Capitals defenseman John Erskine and Varlamov over far enough that when he threaded a pass through Erskine’s legs, all Crosby had to do was deposit the puck into an open net.
The two-goal margin lasted all of two minutes as Washington’s penalty killing unit hit pay dirt. In the process of forechecking, Matt Bradley dumped Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik into Fleury. As he was doing that, Boyd Gordon got a hold of the puck and passed it to Milan Jurcina back near the point. Jurcina wound up and fired it past Orpik and Fleury who were still recovering from the Bradley incident, cutting the lead back to one.
It stayed that way until the Penguins turned hustle from an different source to put the game away. Fedotenko freed up the puck in his zone and flipped it out along the far boards. Maxime Talbot turned on the jets, outracing the Washington defense to the disc. He drove into the Capitals and just before Shaone Morrisonn cut him off, he whistled a shot from the face-off circle that beat Varlamov to the stick side to restore that two-goal margin with just over five minutes remaining.
Game notes…Fedotenko’s four-on-four goal was the second of the series for Pittsburgh. Washington has yet to score in that situation…Gonchar was sent to the locker room midway through the first when he collided with Ovechkin in what looked like a knee-to-knee hit. Although he was listed as questionable to return in the game, he didn’t which makes his availability for Game 5 Saturday questionable…Capitals’ owner Ted Leonsis used his blog to vent his frustration with the Penguins and the Mellon Arena for the scheduling that created the back-to-back games and three games in four days. It seems that the scheduling was necessary due to a Yanni concert, a WWE event and a show by comedian Dane Cook being booked into the Mellon…Pittsburgh police were able to avert a potential situation when they tracked down someone who had posted a death threat against Ovechkin on a message board. It turned out to be a 17-year old from nearby Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Officials do not believe that Ovechkin was ever in any real danger but the NHL did make sure that security was made aware…Ovechkin was held to one assist and two shots on net in the game…The Penguins went 1-for-6 on the power play, bringing their series numbers to 4-for-23. Washington’s 0-for-4 performance left them 3-for-13 in the series.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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