In the 70th regular season game between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals played a back-and-forth game. The Penguins pulled out a 4-2 win, moving to 6-8-2. At the same time, the Capitals fell to a 9-4-0 record.
Recap of the game
The Penguins offense started early in the game after allowing just one touchdown in their Nov. 7 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. They scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game, thanks to a goal that was placed on the stick of Erik Karlsson. Karlsson found himself open in space, and Evgeni Malkin made a smooth pass to a defender, who beat Capitals netminder Charlie Lindgren. Karlsson again found himself involved in the goal less than five minutes later, returning the favor from a superb pass. After jumping on the pace offensively, he found Michael Bunting back with a one-timer to put the Penguins up 2-0 early. Although he was attacking, Karlsson's defensive play cost the Penguins a two-goal lead after he found himself in a critical spot trying to play on Rasmus Sandin. He failed to make the match, which led Sandin to reduce the score to 2-1. That's where the score stood heading into the second half.
The Capitals came out with more energy in the second half, and it showed, getting a ton of chances throughout. In the end, they were rewarded when Jakub Vrana found Andrew Mangiapane on his rush to get a backhand goal from Penguins rookie netminder Joel Blomqvist (who made 32 saves on the night). Despite the momentum and more opportunities, the game went into the third period tied at two.
The third period saw both teams get quality chances from the netminder, with Lindgren making a great save to keep the game tied. But, the Penguins finally got in the money with less than 10 minutes left before Malkin scored again after Bryan Rust took advantage of Connor McMichael's backup defenseman as he rushed into the area and drove hard into the net. the first picture. The Penguins added an empty-net goal by Noel Acciari in what was a 4-2 final score.
Ovechkin's five-goal streak was snapped in this game, and he will look to start anew when he and the Capitals return to the ice on November 9 when they hit the road against St. Louis Blues. The Penguins will look to turn the win into a series when they return home on November 11 against the Dallas Stars.
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