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Pens Are at Home On Road, Top Caps
Sidney Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer, finishes with a goal, an assist and six shots to help Pittsburgh all but ensure the franchise's first playoff berth since 2001.
(Jim Young - Reuters)
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They didn't have much to cheer about early on, at least.
Alexander Semin put the Capitals ahead 1-0 at 5:59 of the first period, when he finished off a perfectly placed pass from Ovechkin.
And only 3:19 later, Boyd Gordon extended the Capitals' edge to 2-0 when he snagged Matt Pettinger's blocked shot in the slot and slipped it underneath Fleury.
Penguins Coach Michel Therrien called a timeout to settle down his players, and less than three minutes later, with the Penguins on the power play, Michel Ouellet fired a rebound past Kolzig to cut to the Capitals' lead in half.
The Capitals squandered a four-minute power play -- Kris Beech missed a wide-open net -- later in the first period, which ended with Washington still clinging to that one-goal edge.
But not for long. Whitney fired a Crosby pass past Kolzig on the power play at 1:10 of the second period to even things at 2. Then Crosby struck on a man advantage 5:11 later after he jammed in a loose puck during a scramble in front of the net. Kolzig was without his stick, which was knocked away during a tussle with Gary Roberts.
"We have to be a little tougher in front when your goalie doesn't have his stick," Kolzig said.
The Penguins continued to take the game to the Capitals, and they eventually made it 4-2 at 15:52. On the play, Capitals enforcer Donald Brashear squared off with Penguins heavyweight Georges Laraque just as the puck entered the net. The scrap was a disappointment, as two of the league's top fighters traded only a couple of punches before wrestling each other to the ice.
"I was really surprised the ref didn't blow the whistle earlier," said Laraque, who earned a fighting major and an assist on the play. "We got lucky on that one."
