WASHINGTON, DC – If Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals is any indication of how the series will be, NHL and television executives will be ecstatic.
The stars all put on a show but it was unheralded Tomas Fleischmann who scored the game-winning goal in support of Simeon Varlamov who stopped 34 shots, including what may be the save of the playoffs, as the Capitals edged the Penguins 3-2 at the Verizon Center Saturday afternoon. The win put the Capitals ahead one game to none with Game 2 set for Monday night in the nation’s capitol.
With he much anticipated match-up between Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin energizing the sellout crowd, Capitals’ coach Bruce Boudreau wanted his team to avoid what had happened in the first round when the New York Rangers skated into D.C. and won the first two games. The Penguins, obviously pumped up, came out in the first period with guns a-blazing. They drew first blood 4:09 in when Bill Guerin fed Crosby who was flying into the Washington zone. Crosby made a right to center move, freeing himself up twenty feet out in the slot for a wicked wrist shot that beat Varlamov to the glove side.
Pittsburgh continued its dominance of the first half of the period, running up an 11-2 shot advantage by the 13:48 mark of the stanza. Moments later, the Capitals turned a Pittsburgh turnover into a goal when Brooks Laich set up Matt Bradley for a shot that was turned away by Penguins’ netminder Marc-Andre Fleury. David Steckel, crashing in looking for a rebound, snapped up the loose puck and stuffed it home to tie the score at 13:50.
Washington could feel a swing in the momentum and cranked it up a notch, which led to two Pittsburgh penalties and a five-on-three man advantage for the Capitals. The Penguins paid for their sins when Alexander Semin saw Ovechkin sneaking toward the net on the backside of the defense. Semin’s cross-slot pass hit Ovechkin right on the tape and the Hart Trophy candidate did the rest, blasting the puck past Fleury who had no chance to stop it. The power play goal gave Washington a 2-1 lead that they took into the intermission.
The late period collapse seemed to be a wake-up call for the Penguins as the second period started. Once again, they pushed and pressed the Capitals’ defense, getting several shots on net. Washington had a few flurries of action as well but both Varlamov and Fleury seemed content to stop everything in sight.
Pittsburgh finally did figure out a way to beat Varlamov at the 12:54 mark of the period. Evgeni Malkin sent the puck back to Mark Eaton at the point. Varlamov had a good look at Eaton’s shot but somehow it eluded his glove to tie the game once again.
With a little over two minutes remaining before the second intermission, Varlamov committed what may be the single best larceny in NHL recent history. With teammate Chris Kunitz controlling the puck in the far circle, Crosby busted down the left side of the slot. Kunitz saw him and threaded a pass through that Crosby got his blade on, directing it toward the gaping open hole that was the Washington net. Not having any time to shift his body, Varlamov spun and dove, stretching his stick toward the goal line. Just as the puck hit the line, Varlamov’s stick met the disc and deflected it out and away. Crosby, thinking he had scored his second of the game, raised his arms to celebrate, only to find the goal light dark and play continuing. Several replays, including the overhead shot, confirmed that indeed Varlamov had kept the puck from completely crossing the line.
Washington knew it had dodged a silver bullet, having been outplayed for a good portion of the first two periods. The Capitals needed a spark and got it 1:46 into the third. On a three-on-two break, Semin carried into the Pittsburgh zone. Fleischmann zipped down the center of the zone, slipping between Penguins’ defensemen Brooks Orpik and Sergei Gonchar. When Orpik stayed up top with Semin, the crafty Capitals forward slid the puck to Nicklas Backstrom who was trailing the play as the third man. Gonchar, realizing that a two-on-one had reared its ugly head, went to the ice to try to take away the passing lane to Fleischmann. Backstrom got the puck to Fleischmann who chipped it over Fleury to put Washington back in front.
Trailing again but with over 18 minutes left in regulation, Pittsburgh began throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Capitals and their young goalie. Two power plays helped the Penguins’ cause as the shots started piling up. Problem was that with each save, Varlamov seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. Pittsburgh was unable to find an answer as Varlamov stopped all 13 shots in the final stanza to send his team into the lead in the series.
Game notes…This is the eighth time Pittsburgh and Washington have met in a playoff series. The Penguins have won six of the previous seven meetings…Including Saturday’s game, of the 44 post-season games the teams have played, 18 have been decided by one goal…The goals by Fleischmann and Steckel were the first of the playoffs for both…Pittsburgh’s power play went 0-for-5 in the game while Washington’s went 1-for-2…The Penguins won 32 of the 60 face-offs in the game but only four of the successful draws came in the third period.
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