The Washington Capitals lost their first two games in round one on home ice to the Columbus Blue Jackets. They dripped their sticks a little harder after those two games and went on to sweep the next four games to move to the second round and face their nemesis, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After leading 2-0 in the game, the Caps surrendered three straight goals and dropped Game 1, 3-2, to the Pens.
Saw dust is blowing in the wind in DC Friday morning.
Jake Guentzel, Patric Hornqvist and Sidney Crosby scored for the Pens early in the third period to wrest the game away form the Caps for the series lead.
Matt Murray made 32 saves for the win.
Three straight shifts fro the Penguins resulted in goals with Guentzel potting the game-winner.
“They had good looks, we had good looks, but those three shifts changed the game,” Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov said.
Alex Ovechkin gave the Caps a 2-0 lead after Kuznetsov staked the Caps an early 1-0 lead.
Game 2 of the series is Sunday in Washington.
[WATCH: All Penguins vs. Capitals highlights | Complete Capitals vs. Penguins series coverage]
Braden Holtby made 22 saves in taking the loss.
“We gave up some good chances and [Holtby] was really good early, but we played a pretty good game,” the Capitals’ Matt Niskanen said. “They scored on Crosby’s three shifts in a row in the third period to win the game. Otherwise, we played pretty good. I don’t think you need to overanalyze that.”
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