Capitals vs. Penguins Recap: Washington Bounces Back With Win

Facing a five game losing streak in the face the Capitals corrected course with a convincing 3 to 1 win over the Penguins.

Here’s Tuesday night’s Plus/Minus:

Plus: Secondary scoring provided everything that was needed on offense.

Minus: Garnet Hathaway turned a shorthanded breakaway into a two man disadvantage early in the first period.

Nine more notes on the game:

1. During the aforementioned 5 on 3 advantage Pittsburgh hit two posts behind Vitek Vanecek, one each from Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby.
2. The teams combined for 28 shots in a scoreless but exciting opening frame, with Washington registering 15 of them. It was the first time in 11 periods of play that the Capitals held their opponent without a goal.
3. Conor Sheary broke the tie five minutes into the second. A nice pass from Richard Panik gave Sheary just enough time to roof the puck over Tristan Jarry’s left shoulder and light the lamp.
4. Washington would go scoreless on four second period power play opportunities (7:44) despite putting 7 shots on goal.
5. But Jakub Vrana would beat Jarry at even strength to extend the lead to two. A sublime backhand pass from T.J. Oshie put the puck on a platter for Vrana and he ripped it home.
6. 69 seconds into the third Lars Eller potted his second goal of the season to put the game away. A second sensational Panik pass gave Eller plenty of net to hit with a quick shot from the slot.
7. With five minutes to play Pittsburgh got on the scoreboard thanks to Zach Aston-Reese. A hard skating John Marino was pushed into Vanecek, who had no chance on the play.
8. The Capitals outshot Pittsburgh by 15, putting 42 pucks at Jarry’s net by game’s end.
9. Washington’s goals were all scored by left handed shooters, which doesn’t happen on a team with this much right handed offensive talent very often.