Ticked, Tacked, And Toed, Caps Crushed By Penguins

The Washington Capitals went into Pittsburgh on Thursday night looking for a season changing win, instead they left with their tails between their legs after a possible season-crushing defeat to the Penguins 5-2.  Two decent periods for the Caps weren't enough as they were manhandled in the 2nd.

After a good first period and a 1-0 lead, the Penguins went on a 5-0 run in the second period putting the game far out of reach for the struggling Caps.  A goalie change in the second after 2 Penguins goals didn't help as Holtby replaced Neuvirth and gave up 3 straight.  2 in 11 seconds and the third less than 3 minutes later.  If not for a few great saves the game could have really gotten out of hand.

The Caps goal in the first period wasn't exactly amazing hockey.  Marc-Andre Fleury took a shot to the head knocking him to the ice helmet-less as Mike Ribeiro tapped in the rebound.  After that it was dead season for the Capitals til the 3rd.

Alex Ovechkin was whiffing on pucks, falling on the ground, missing breakaways, and pinging the pipe with open net.  However he did show some fire after a penalty and ended up scoring another powerplay goal almost halfway through the 3rd period.  He picked up an assist in the first as well and he now has 7 points in 11 games.

Aside from Ribeiro's goal in the first he also picked up an assist on the Ovi goal.  Ribz has 4 goals and 9 assists on the season, that's 13 points and 5 multi-point games on the year.

Next up for the all but dead Caps, Saturday at home vs the Panthers...