Courtesy: Zimbio.com
WASHINGTON — Looking at the stat sheet is pointless if you tuned in to Wednesday night’s game between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
From start to finish, Pittsburgh had their foot on the gas and dug into Washington like no team has this year as they shut the Capitals out for the second time this season 4-0. The shutout marks the second time they were also shut out on NBC Sports Network’s rivalry night as they fell to the New York Rangers 2-0 on Oct. 16. Yes, that means they haven’t scored on national TV and they have been outscored 6-0… not pretty.
“There’s bits and pieces where we were playing pretty good,” Washington defenseman Karl Alzner said. “Details killed us tonight and there are some things we need to look at.”
Washington was once again outshot badly for the second game in a row as Pittsburgh was able to throw 40 pucks in Braden Holtby’s direction. The Capitals only took 18 shots that hit the net and Marc Andre-Fleury didn’t have a lot of action in his zone in general as the Capitals didn’t possess the puck nowhere near as much as they should have against the high-powered offense that is the Penguins.
“I don’t think we should take anything with us to be honest with you,” Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom said in regards to what the team should gain from this loss. ” We’ll have to watch video [Thursday], hopefully, we’ll learn something and get ready for the next one.”
“I don’t think we played too well in our zone… the neutral zone especially,” Alexander Ovechkin told reporters. “I don’t think e played our game tonight.”
Watching the Penguins last night was a thing of beauty in terms of how they used the entire rink to create offensive chances. The puck was moving swiftly from tape-to-tape and it’s something the Capitals know they must do in order to beat better teams in the NHL.
“It’s usually been a strength of our game, our puck movement,” Capitals forward Brooks Laich said. “Our support tonight, it was a detriment for sure.”
By not possessing the puck, they allowed the Penguins a plethora of chances to put themselves on the board. With finishers like James Neal, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, it’s almost certain they are not going to be held off the stat sheet in some way.
“When you get pucks thrown [at the net] that often, you get goals like the first goal,” Braden Holtby said. “Sooner or later, you’re going to get those on your side.”
As good as Washington has been this season, when facing tougher opponents like the Phoenix Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche and now the Pittsburgh Penguins, they haven’t been able to get that signature win that can build some serious momentum and confidence for this team. One might say that win was versus the St. Louis Blues Sunday evening, but with a 4-0 loss in the following game, it’s hard to share that sentiment going forward. Washingto head coach Adam Oates still feels like there is a lot of room to grow from a game like this.
“Win or lose, we always do that,” Oates said about gaining knowledge about his team from the game film. “It will be a little harder tomorrow because it was a game you were looking forward to… a team that you want to beat. There’s lots of ways to lose games and that’s not one way you really want to do it.”
Washington forward Jason Chimera said in best in regards to the Capitals moving forward to face the Montreal Canadiens Friday night at Verizon Center: “It’s one of those nights where you can’t explain what happens.”
Notes: Washington won the face-off battle 32-30, while also outhitting Pittsburgh 31-29. The Penguins blocked 18 shots to the Capitals’ 11. Both teams had seven takeaways, while Pittsburgh gave the puck away more (8-3). Washington was once again held scoreless on the power play as they were 0-3 on the night; Pittsburgh went 1-3 with that highlight reel goal by Sidney Crosby late in the second period.
