PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Washington defenseman Dmitry Orlov scored his second on the night with 43 seconds left in overtime as the Caps beat the Pens 4-3. Given the Pens outshot Washington 47-32, there was a sense the outcome very easily could have been different.
"We stepped up tonight," said Pens defenseman John Marino. "I thought we played pretty well. I think we deserved to win that game, unlike the other games. I think we found our game tonight."
"I thought we had a lot of chances," said Penguins forward Jake Guentzel. "I liked how we played tonight. We played a good 60 minutes, just came up a little bit short. Sometimes you are going to run into a goalie that is going to make a couple saves on you."
Washington's Ilya Samsonov came into the game after Vitek Vanecek gave up a first period power play goal to Evgeni Malkin. Samonsov played 57:34 including the overtime making 43 saves.
"It's hockey, sometimes goalie is unbelievable, sometimes you are a little bit unlucky," said Pens forward Evgeni Malkin. "I think like coach said after the game, we played a good game and maybe deserved more."
"I thought it was the best game we played in a while," said Pens head coach Mike Sullivan. "I thought the energy level was tremendous. I thought we were playing on our toes. I thought we controlled territory. We generated a number of scoring chances. Our power play was dynamic."
"For me it had all of the ingredients I think that makes the identity of the Penguins what it is. It's unfortunate we didn't get the result. We had a few breakdowns, I thought Washington was opportunistic and they scored on them. I thought for the most part we really liked our team game. It was really good."
Nick Dowd finished one of those chances short-handed to give the Caps a 1-0 lead early in the first. Malkin would tie it up and then the Pens would take the lead on a big play by the Russian. Good puck movement on the power play, Washington about to knock it out of the zone, but Malkin gave up his body to keep it in. The puck collected by Guentzel to Sidney Crosby to Bryan Rust for a backhand in front and a 2-1 lead.
Orlov would score his first on a Washington power play as former Penguin Justin Schultz caromed a pass off the boards in stride to former Penguin Conor Sheary. Tristan Jarry stopped the first shot, but Orlov put home the rebound to make it 2-2 after one.
Rust would score again on the power play from Crosby and Guentzel in the second. Then another Penguin, Daniel Sprong-who's penalties led to the Caps short-handed and Malkin's power play goal-went nearly coast-to-coast past defenseman Chad Rudwedel to tie it up with 42 seconds left in the second period.
"I don't think the score is an indication of how many chances we generated," Sullivan said. "Regardless of the outcome of the game is, we are trying to give an honest assessment of where we are at. We've been on the other side of that over the last month or so where we probably didn't deserve the result that we got and we got it. That's hockey."
"If we put that game on the ice consistently, we are going to win a lot of hockey games."
Good Challenge
It appeared the Caps tied the game with 8:05 gone in the second period, a slap shot redirected by Dowd deep in the crease. Originally ruled a goal, Sullivan challenged for goalie interference. After several minutes to discuss the play, it was determined Dowd did interfere with Tristan Jarry. Washington head coach Peter Laviolette told the refs emphatically he didn't agree, in so many words.
January Joy
Off to a two goal start in February, January was also pretty good for Bryan Rust. In 11 games last month, Rust scored 10 goals adding 11 assists and named the NHL's Third Star of the Month leading the league with a 1.91 points-per-game average. Rust started the month with a hat trick as part of a career-high five-point night on his first game back from injury. Pens earned points in 10 of the 11 games in January.
COVID negative
Tuesday morning before the game, Chad Ruhwedel was in COVID protocol. The defenseman played Tuesday night.
"We don't have enough time to explain what we went through with the COVID protocol," Sullivan said. "I think the short answer is he tested out of it."
Stopped 8
Alexander Ovechkin is having another tremendous year, fifth in the NHL in points, but only one goal in the last 14 games against the Penguins.
"He's hard to shut down without a doubt," Sullivan said. "He's one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. The players have an awareness when he is on the ice. I just think at the end of the day, it boils down to the players making a commitment to getting the job done."
Up Next
All-Star Break with the Pens returning to action on the road Tuesday at Boston.
"Everyone gets to recharge the batteries, come back with a fresh mind," Marino said of time off. "Obviously it's a long season, I think everyone is looking forward to it."
