The final meeting of the year between the Capitals and Penguins came into the night almost assured of Tuesday's GON until the Battle of Southern California gave it a huge run for its money. But it will remain on top, as Washington/Pittsburgh Round 4 is tonight's Game of the Night:
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Washington has nothing to play for in terms of standings--they haven't for a couple weeks now. They have the best record record in the league wrapped up. But none of that kind of motivation is needed when they're playing the Penguins, especially when they know Pittsburgh is fighting for the title in their Atlantic Division.
Alexander Semin scored his 39th goal of the year with 7 minutes left in the 1st and the Capitals had a 1-0 lead after 1.
Mike Knuble would tally for Washington 42 seconds into the 2nd period to make it 2-0. Pittsburgh kept battling back, but every time they would cut the lead to 1, the Capitals would give a quick answer back.
Sidney Crosby made it 2-1 on the power-play 6:21 into the 2nd, his 48th goal of the year, only to be followed by Washington's Tomas Fleischmann 21 seconds later, and the Capitals were back up by 2.
Jordan Leopold made it 3-2 9:55 into the period, and 8 minutes later, Matt Bradley put the Capitals back up by 2 at 4-2.
Leopold would get his 2nd of the night 49 seconds into the 3rd period. Less than 2 minutes later, Alex Ovechkin would net his 47th goal of the season on the power-play to make it 5-3 Washington, and they would never look back.
Ovechkin would add an empty-net goal with less than a second remaining to tie Crosby for the league-lead in goals with 48 and give the Capitals a 6-3 win.
Semyon Varlamov got the win for Washington, making 26 saves. Marc-Andre Fleury would stop only 9 of the Capitals first 12 shots, and Brent Johnson would finish the game and eventually be handed the loss. Johnson made 13 saves on 15 shots.
The Capitals sweep the season series from arguably their biggest rivals, going 4-0-0. The team knows that this means nothing, though, and that a meeting in the postseason would start a clean slate. After all, the Capitals went 3-0-1 against Pittsburgh last season before falling to them in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
Washington was questioned recently on their play because of the fact that they don't exactly have anything to play for. 4 games ago, they were on a 3-game losing streak and looked somewhat lackadaisical. But whether it's team records, individual records, momentum, or just flat out pride as an athlete, the Capitals keep winning.
They have now won 4-straight games, and have 118 points on the year--9 better than the 2nd-best Sharks. They have 2 games remaining, both at home, where they own the best home record in the NHL. Friday night against Atlanta and Sunday afternoon versus the Bruins.
The Penguins remain at 97 points, 2 back of New Jersey for the lead in the Atlantic Division. Both teams have 3 games left.
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It was the back end of a home-and-home between these two Pacific Division rivals to close out this year's version of the Freeway Faceoff. And what a game it was for the playoff-headed Kings.
It didn't look at first for L.A., as Anaheim looked as if they were quickly going to send the Kings back up Interstate-5.
5:28 into the game, Jason Blake would tally for Anaheim, and Teemu Selanne would net a goal for the Ducks with jut over 3 minutes left in the 1st period, giving them a 2-0 lead after 1.
Bobby Ryan made it 3-0 Anaheim 2 minutes into the 2nd period on a gift turnover, at which point Jonathan Quick was pulled from the net for Erik Ersberg after allowing 3 goals on only 8 shots.
Almost 10 minutes into the 2nd period, Dustin Brown whacked one in past Curtis McElhinney to put the Kings on the board.
Selanne would get his 2nd goal of the night 2 and a half minutes later on the power-play to put the Ducks back up by 3. But the Kings kept pounding away, and Alexander Frolov bounced the puck in with just over 3 minutes left in the period to make it 4-2 Ducks after 2. The Kings were outshooting Anaheim 22-11 after 2 periods.
In the 3rd, L.A. had 16 shots to the Ducks 3. Justin Williams made it 4-3 7:56 into the 3rd on a beautiful move. And with Ersberg headed to the bench for the extra attacker, Michal Handzus backhanded the puck into the net after a great pass from Justin Williams to tie the game at 4 with 1:09 left in regulation.
The overtime would be an unbelievable back-and-forth extra session, but it would solve nothing.
Corey Perry put the Ducks up in the shootout on the first shot, but Jack Johnson and Anze Kopitar would score for Los Angeles, giving them the rally-back 5-4 win.
McElhinney would end with 36 saves for Anaheim, while Ersberg stopped 12 of 13 for the Kings and he picks up the win.
The Ducks were eliminated from the playoffs during their own shootout when Colorado won their shootout over Vancouver, but this just sealed the deal. They are 11th in the West with 86 points.
The Kings move to 6th in the West with 97 points, 1 back up Nashville for 5th with a game-in-hand and 1 up on Detroit who's in 7th. L.A. has 3 games left, 2 at home, then 1 in Colorado to close it out.
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Rangers 2 Sabres 5
New York suffers a huge blow to their playoff chances, and they remain 9th in the East with 82 points, now 3 back of 8th-place Boston with only 3 games to play. Buffalo clinches the Northeast Division title with the win, sitting 3rd in the East with 98 points.
Flyers 2 Maple Leafs 0
They Flyers' big win moves them to 7th in the East with 86 points, 1 up on 8th-place Boston and now 4 points into a spot. They have 2 games to play. Toronto is last in the East with 72 points.
Canadiens 3 Islanders 4 (SO)
New York's 3rd-straight win keeps Montreal from clinching a playoff spot just yet, as the Canadiens are now up to 87 points, 6th in the East, and their magic number is just 1 with 2 game left to play. The Islanders are 11th in the East with 78 points.
Devils 3 Thrashers 0
Martin Brodeur's 600th career win is none other than a shutout. It's his 110th shutout. And in Ilya Kovalchuk's return to Atlanta, the Devils officially eliminate the Thrashers from the playoff chase. Atlanta is 4 points behind Boston for 8th, but they only have 2 games to play and the Bruins hold the tiebreak. New Jersey is 1st in the Atlantic Division--2 points up on Pittsburgh--and 2nd in the East with 99 points.
Senators 5 Panthers 2
Ottawa remains clinched in 5th in the East with 93 points and 2 games left, while Florida is 13th in the East with 74 points.
Hurricanes 8 Lightning 5
Carolina had a 5-1 lead over Tampa Bay after the 1st period, and they wouldn't let themselves lose that. Steven Stamkos did score his 47th goal of the season for the Lightning, keeping his 1 behind Ovechkin and Crosby for the most in the league. Carolina has 78 points, 12th in the East, while Tampa Bay has 74 for 14th-place.
Blackhawks 5 Stars 2
Chicago remains within 2 points of San Jose for 1st-place in the Western Conference as they now have 107 points on the year and they have a game-in-hand on the Sharks. Dallas is 12th in the West with 84 points.
Sharks 2 Flames 1
San Jose remains 1st in the West and move to 109 points while eliminating the Flames from the playoffs and clinching the Pacific Division title in the process. Calgary has 89 points and are now 4 back of Colorado for 8th, but they only have 2 games left and the Avalanche hold the tiebreak.
Avalanche 4 Canucks 3 (SO)
Colorado has been one of the best surprise stories of the year. They were projected by many to finish near the bottom, if not the bottom, of the Western Conference, just like they were last year. How wrong they are, as on this night, the Avalanche clinched a playoff spot. They are 8th in the West with 93 points, 3 back of Detroit for 7th with 3 games remaining. Their clinch means that the West has all 8 teams ready for the playoffs. Vancouver is one of them, as they stay 3rd in the West with 101 points.
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Wednesday's Schedule:
Maple Leafs @ Rangers, 7:00, Versus
Blue Jackets @ Red Wings, 7:30
Blues @ Blackhawks, 8:30
Avalanche @ Oilers, 9:30
Predators @ Coyotes, 10:00, NHL Network
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New York Rangers: 38-33-11, 87 points
Atlanta Thrashers: 35-34-13, 83 points
Carolina Hurricanes: 35-37-10, 80 points
Tampa Bay Lightning: 34-36-12, 80 points
New York Islanders: 34-37-11, 79 points
Florida Panthers: 32-37-13, 77 points
Toronto Maple Leafs: 30-38-14, 74 points
Toronto Maple Leafs: 30-38-14, 74 points
St Louis Blues: 40-32-10, 90 points
St Louis Blues: 40-32-10, 90 points
Calgary Flames: 40-32-10, 90 points
Calgary Flames: 40-32-10, 90 points
Anaheim Ducks: 39-32-11, 89 points
Anaheim Ducks: 39-32-11, 89 points
Dallas Stars: 37-31-14, 88 points
Dallas Stars: 37-31-14, 88 points
Minnesota Wild: 38-36-8, 84 points
Minnesota Wild: 38-36-8, 84 points
Columbus Blue Jackets: 32-35-15, 79 points
Columbus Blue Jackets: 32-35-15, 79 points
Edmonton Oilers: 27-47-8, 62 points
Edmonton Oilers: 27-47-8, 62 points
