Washington Capitals Shutout Pittsburgh Penguins for the Second Time
For the second and final time this season, the Capitals shutout the Penguins once again 1-0. Michal Neuvirth set the roof on fire by making 39 deflections, silencing the crowd who came in pumped at the sold-out CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
on Monday night. The Penguins looked helpless against Neuvirth’s defence, taking shot after shot but of no gain.
"I made a few saves early in the game and I was feeling pretty good," Capitals’ goalie, Neuvirth, said.
Alex Ovechkin scored the only goal in the second period during a power play assist by Marcus Johansson making it his 24th goal of the season, which became the game winner. Alex might not have goals in every game, but certainly creates openings
for teammates in some way or another.
"That is what he does, and this is what he wasn't doing in the first 45-50 games," said Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau commenting on Ovechkin’s performance, who scored his first goal in the past four games.
Neuvirth made this his third shutout of the season, previously against the same Penguins 3-0 earlier this month, not being able to do so in a previous 79 matchups with them. Pittsburgh had 18 and 14 shots on goal in the first and third period alone respectively,
making them unable to blame it on the lack of attempts. Their counterpart only had 24 attempts, capitalizing on one of three power play opportunities.
"I thought we created a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities," said former All-Star team captain, http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=3541.
Both being rivals in the Eastern Conference showed fierce competition on the ice, going back and forth while snatching the puck from each other in various breakaway attempts. Staal had a mammoth chance at taking the lead, when driving the puck down the ice
short-handed but was stopped by Neuvirth nearly a minute before Ovechkin’s goal.
Either team hasn’t been capable of leaving the other behind by a noteworthy difference, as both are differentiated by a minor 3 points. Capitals are now on a two game winning streak, thanks to Marcus Johansson’s winning goal in their previous showdown with
the Buffalo Sabres. They have time to rest now, as they are to host the New York Rangers on Friday.
Pittsburgh on the other hand has lost six of its past eight contests, as key defenseman Paul Martin is not in a dependable position to perform every game due to a hit by Chicago on Sunday; things might get worse for them. Going up against the insatiable
San Jose Sharks a day away from now, they hope to conquer them but with little chances as seen by others.
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