Penguins Explode for 3 Goals in 5 Minutes to Top Capitals in Game 1
The most telling comment on the night came in the game's early stages.
That's when Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan remarked that the Penguins didn't want to get into a race with Washington.
Consider this high praise, as the Pens specialize in speed, themselves. Even if their fastest skater, Carl Hagelin, was out of Game 1 due to a chance meeting with Claude Giroux.
Even at 6-3/191cm, Geno Malkin has impressive wheels, too. Like Hagelin, though, dude was done in by injury and out for Game 1 against the Capitals.
In games they don't dominate, the Penguins are notorious for finding their moment and stealing a victory. That's what happened in this one, where the Caps quickly exploited Pittsburgh's defensive breakdowns and still came up on short end of a 3-2 result:
As the hockey world well knows, Washington's seen this happen many times before.
Clearly, Pittsburgh finds a way.
What's incredible is so do the Caps, in an alternate universe kinda sense. As in ...
- An Ovechkin turnover leading to the Pens' tying goal was bad enough, but then,
- What was Braden Holtby thinking?
No lie.
Until the Caps can prove differently, this matchup is looking more and more like another time-honored competition where everyone knows the ending. It's just a matter of how they get there: