Crosby’s Two Points Push Pittsburgh Past Washington

After a hard fought matchup, the Pittsburgh Penguins downed the Washington Capitals 2-1. Pittsburgh picks up two points on the road, and Washington five-game win streak came to an end.

Washington Key Stats

Goals

Lars Eller

Assists

Tom Wilson

Pittsburgh Key Stats

Goals

Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust

Assists

Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel

What Happened

No goals were scored, but the first period from Capital One Arena was anything but uneventful. Within the first minute of the game, Tom Wilson had KO’d Jamie Oleksiak, and captains Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin were exchanging words between the benches. Pittsburgh had two 5 on 4 chances, but failed to capitalize on either.

The Capitals struck first on a 2 on 1; Wilson chipped the puck past a Pittsburgh defender to Eller who beat Matt Murray stick side. The Penguins responded at 9:15 with a redirected shot-pass from Crosby. Crosby later picked up his second of the game at 18:58 with a chip-in goal near a mad scramble in front of Braden Holtby.

Pittsburgh’s defense bailed Murray out on numerous occasions in the third period, and it eventually paid off. Washington threw the puck on net 14 times, but it wasn’t enough as the Penguins closed out the third period. The Capitals officially move to 20-10-3 with 43 points, and Pittsburgh moves to 16-12-6 with 38 points.

Looking Forward

Ovechkin’s goal streak is over. He scored seven goals in three games, including two hat tricks. Ovechkin remains the number one goal scorer in the league by a margin of six.

Wilson tallied his seventh assist, and his sixteenth point of the year. He’s played in only fourteen games played due to suspension, but is making his presence on the ice known. Wilson engaged Oleksiak in the opening period, resulting in a five minute major- he now has 28 minutes in the box already.

Crosby ended a six game goal drought with his tip against the Caps. He’s recorded six points in the last four, and has 38 points in 31 games played.

Murray’s started in two games since returning from injury. In those two starts, he’s faced 73 shots, and turned 69 away.

Pittsburgh will host the Minnesota Wild on December 21st, and Washington will host the Buffalo Sabres on December 22nd.

Also, I normally cover the Nashville Predators, but my sister’s favorite hockey player is Alex Ovechkin, and who doesn’t love the Pittsburgh/Washington rivalry?

-Jack Woods covers the Nashville Predators and the Central Division for FullPressCoverage.com and PenaltyBoxRadio.com. You can follow Jack on Twitter at @jack_woods15