Pittsburgh Penguins win 3-2 against the Washington Capitals after shootout in NHL
Washington Capitals versus the Pittsburgh Penguins was a top table battle. If Pittsburgh won the match they would be top of the table and if Washington Capitals won they would be a point adrift of the leaders. This was the 510th game of the 2010
Compuware NHL Premiere Series that was played this Thursday. The match saw the Pittsburgh Penguins win the match 3-2 after shootout and take the lead going into Christmas. This was the 36th game of the season for the Pittsburgh Penguins while the
Washington Capitals played the 37th game of the season.
Pittsburgh Penguins were aware of the fact that if the Washington Capitals scored the first goal then it would be difficult to catch them. On the other hand, the Capitals have struggled in the league if they scored against them first. Keeping this in mind,
the Penguins pressed right from the beginning of the period and successfully scored in the fourth minute to take the lead. The goal was scored by Sidney Crosby, leading by example, scoring through a simple tip in shot. Washington Capitals came up with strong
attacks and a dozen goal attempts but they failed to convert any of the chances into goals as the period ended with the Pittsburgh Penguins, leading 1-0. During the course of 20 minutes of play, Pittsburgh Penguins made six goal attempts, while Washington
Capitals made 12 goal attempts.
The second period was no different from the first period as both teams came up with the occasional attacks, displaying excellent skills on ice. Both teams had the share of the chances but they failed to capitalize from them. However, Washington Capitals
were able to score in the 12th minute, through Mike Green to level the scores. Washington had a couple more chances to take the lead but the shot either went wide or was stopped by the goal keeper, who made some excellent saves. The period ended
with the scores level on 1-1, with the Pittsburgh Penguins making six goal attempts, while the Washington Capitals made 13 goal attempts.
The final started with a bombshell, as the Pittsburgh Penguins stunned the home crowd with a goal in the 17th second of the period, through Chris Kunitz. However, the home team was able to come up with decent plays too and scored in the 15th
minute to level the scores once again. The goal was scored by Mike Knuble’s superb backhand shot. The period didn’t see any further goals scored with the Capitals making five goal attempts and the Penguins making 11 goal attempts. The scores were level on
2-2 and the match went into overtime but no goals were scored.
The match resultantly went into shootout, during which Pascal Dupuis scored, winning the match 3-2 for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh Penguins goal keeper, Andre Fleury was named the star player of the match as he made 32 saves. Crosby said,
“Guys were doing a great job. It would have been a much different start if we didn’t kill those off and they got a couple. It was a big, big part of the game.”