In Washington, DC, Darcy Kuemper made 35 saves for the Capitals in a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, on penalties.
“It was a huge two points for us. That’s not really a secret. We knew how big this game was coming into it,” Kuemper said. “These games feel really good when you get the job done. We played super hard, and we earned it tonight.”
Bryan Rust tied the game, 2-2, late in the third period to force an extra session which solved nothing.
Nicklas Backstrom was credited with the deciding goal in the skills competition.
“It’s always these kind of games against Pittsburgh. It’s fun game to play because there’s a lot of emotion out there,” Backstrom said. “It was actually a great hockey game, I think, overall.”
Alex Ovechkin scored six minutes into the game to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.
The Pens’ Danton Heinen tied it, 1-1, in the middle frame.
The Caps improved to 26-19-6.
The Capitals reclaimed the lead early in the third period on a marker from Marcus Johansson .
“It was a great played by Nick and I just tried to get as much ice as possible before I shot it, and I think it got lucky bounce and nicked off of [defenseman Brian Dumoulin], but I’ll take it,” Johansson said.
Pittsburgh dropped to 24-15-9.
“We’ve done a pretty good job of just fighting and battling. It’s a nightly thing,” Pittsburgh Sidney Crosby said. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re consistent, but we’ve been competing hard and finding ways and we’ve got to find another level here going into the stretch run.”
Casey DeSmith made 43 saves in the loss.
“I felt great tonight. I felt like myself,” DeSmith said. “I felt like I played my game, which I was really happy about. That was kind of my focus going in: just trusting my game, going out and playing it and thankfully I was able to do that.”
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