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Game 2 Recap: Pens Pound Caps 6-2, Grab 2-0 Series Lead

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The Washington Capitals got their teeth kicked in and their lunch money stolen by the Pittsburgh Penguins, suffering a 6-2 beating and wetting their pants in front of everyone, even the cool kids.

Here’s Saturday night’s Plus/Minus:

Plus: Paul Carey played very well in place of scratched Brett Connolly.

Minus: Everything else. Absolutely, literally everything else.

And now, this…

Ten more notes on the game:

1. With the Penguins stealing Game 1, could the Capitals draw back even and reclaim home ice in Game 2?

2. In the first circle of Hell, Paul Carey replaced Brett Connolly on the fourth line. To everyone’s surprise, Carey played well, noticeably jump-starting the sluggish line and availing himself extraordinarily competently. Expect to see him again in Game 3.

3. In the second circle of Hell, the Capitals came out and record 10 of the first 11 shots, and finished the period leading the shots 15-5. Fans were excited; this seemed very promising. Trotz must have gotten through to the Caps to keep shooting. Oh yes, their optimism would be naught but the altar of their own sacrifice.

4. The Caps even got two power plays in the first period, two more than they got all Game 1! Surely that boded well, right?

5. In the third circle of Hell, in this case known as the second period, things started to heat up. Despite all the momentum in the world going Washington’s way, Matt Cullen made Kevin Shattenkirk pay. Shatty blasted a slapper from the point on the power play that was blocked and immediately taken the other way. Shattenkirk botched the defense, and Cullen ripped the Caps’ hearts out with a breakaway shorthanded goal the other way. It was 1-0 Penguins.

6. In the fourth circle of Hell, cruel hope is the elixir of the damned. Matt Niskanen answered right back, scoring on the very same power play as he was inexplicably left alone in front of the net. He one-timed home the tying goal, 1-1.

7. In the fifth circle of Hell, Phil Kessel rubbed his skill in the Caps’ faces, finishing off a lovely-but-puke-inducing Sidney Crosby rush and feed to make it 2-1 Pittsburgh.

8. In the sixth circle of Hell, Pittsburgh’s Guentzel make it 3-1 Pens after a horrible 2-on-1 breakaway. And then Phil Kessel scored another goal, an uncalled for sequel, to make it 4-1.

9. Braden Holtby was pulled before the start of the third period after posting an abysmal 11-of-14 and a fecal .786 save percentage. Grubauer came on in relief, and allowed two goals of his own, plus and empty netter to make the final score 6-2. You don’t care about those other three goals, trust me.

10. Welp, the Capitals got out to a roaring start, did everything right, then got deflated by a single, bad mistake, which led to their unraveling. Sound familiar? Me too. I’ll be drinking bleach-and-vodka cocktails if you need me.

The Pens take a 2-0 series lead back to Pittsburgh, and the Caps are left picking up the pieces. Game 3 is Monday in Pennsylvania.

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