Washington Capitals close gap on the Pittsburgh after winning 3-0
The first game of the Sunday saw the Washington Capitals play host to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The game was played at the Verizon Centre with both teams playing the 54th game of the season with this being the 793rd game of the 2010
Compuware NHL Premiere Series. The game was pretty much even throughout the sixty minutes of play but Washington Capitals proved to be more productive and won the match 3-0 in the end.
Michal Neuvirth, goal keeper of the Washington Capitals was named the star selection of the match after he made 22 saves out of the 22 shots fired towards his goal.
Despite the away disadvantage, Pittsburgh Penguins were early out of the blocks and came up with early strong shots. Their passing was splendid and they kept possession for good amount of time. There were numerous mistakes made by the Capitals defence early
on but the Penguins weren’t able to score.
The Penguins lack of scoring from the several chances gave the Capitals a lot of confidence. The team’s grew in confidence and started to construct attacks. This resulted in the Capitals started to near the goal but they couldn’t score early on in the period.
However, the home team took the lead with a brilliant goal in the 19th minute scored by Brooks Laich from a superb backhand shot.
Washington Capitals made a few more goal attempts in the final minute of the period but the scores didn’t change as they led 1-0. During the course of the period, Washington Capitals made 8 goal attempts while the Pittsburgh Penguins made 5 goal attempts.
The second period was pretty much matched by both the sides in the department of offence. However, Washington Capitals won the early battle in the department of offence and defence as they managed to get past the opposing defence to double their lead.
The goal was scored by Marcus Johansson from a brilliant backhand shot in the 4th minute. Both teams continued to attack right from the start to the finish. Superb passing and shooting were observed during the course of the period. The only thing
the period lacked was goals. Both teams weren’t disheartened and continued to attack even though no goals were scored.
The goal keepers did an excellent job during the period as they made numerous saves. The period ended with no further goals as the period ended with the Washington Capitals leading 2-0 going into the break with both teams making 10 goal attempts.
The final period started off with both teams making a cautious start to the game which resulted in them waiting for spaces to develop and chances to come their way. After more of defensive middle part of the game, attacks started to construct with both
teams making shots from anywhere they got spaces. Though it took some time but the final goal of the period was scored in the last minute of the match. The goal was scored in favour of the Capitals as they scored through Mike Knuble from flick shot.
The period and the match ended with the Capitals winning 3-0 in the end. During the final period Penguins made 7 goal attempts while the Capitals made 6 goal attempts.
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