In the beginning, it seemed like it was wash, rinse, and repeat for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Washington Capitals.
The Penguins went ahead early, 2-0, on goals from Erik Karlsson and Michael Bunting – and they saw that lead evaporate six minutes into the second period. Once again, Pittsburgh was destined to lose a hockey game after surrendering a two-goal lead.
But, this time, their rookie goaltender had something to say about that.
Joel Blomqvist – who let in a questionable goal in the first period – bounced back in a big way, gave the Penguins some huge saves in the final two frames, and afforded his team the time and the chance to, ultimately, put a foot down and win the game, 4-2, on third period goals from Evgeni Malkin and Noel Acciari (empty-net goal).
“He was huge for us (last night),” forward Rickard Rakell said. “He played great for us and really gave us a chance there in the second period. We gave up a lot of great scoring chances, and then, coming down the stretch, he was just making good saves.”
The Penguins also played a really solid third period, as they were responsible on both sides of the puck and were able to hunker down when the Capitals pressed late and tried to tie the game.
“I thought it was one of our more complete periods,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “Just kind of digging in, playing a team game. Really proud of the guys.”
Here are some thoughts and observations from Friday’s win against the Capitals:
– That was the best third period of the season from the Penguins, and, arguably, one of their best of the season.
They defended well and didn’t give the Capitals much at all. They didn’t play high-risk hockey, were smart in all three zones, and really controlled the pace of play in the third, only allowing five shots to the Caps and none in the first nine minutes.
They were also opportunistic on offense. Malkin’s goal came as a result of Bryan Rust using his speed to do his “signature move” off the rush, skating around and behind Capitals’ forward Connor McMichael, who was back on defense. He shot it from below the goal line, and Malkin picked up the loose change and buried the game-winning goal 9:32 remaining in the third period:
Drew O’Connor also made a few nice blocks at the end of the game with the empty net, prior to Acciari’s goal.
“I just think we defended hard,” Sullivan said. “We were above the puck, we didn’t play a high-risk game, we made good decisions with the puck, and we defended as a group. And, when we defend…