Chris Kunitz scored a hat trick and Sidney Crosby recorded three assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals 6-3, at the Verizon Center, Sunday afternoon.
After the Capitals scored on a fluke goal off the boards in the second period, the Penguins rebounded to score three straight goals within seven minutes of each other, then relied on back up goaltender, and former Capital, Tomas Vokoun to shut the door in the third.
The Penguins, as they had in seven of their previous eight games, scored first. Sidney Crosby won an offensive zone face off back to Paul Martin whose wrist shot beat Braden Holtby five hole. Replay showed Chris Kunitz may have tipped the puck in, but the goal was credited to Martin, citing that it may have deflected off of John Carlson instead.
The Capitals stormed back less than two minutes later with a goal from Mike Green. After falling into the boards on a hit by Letang, Green positioned himself in the high slot. Wojtek Wolski fed Green who let off a one-timer that was completely uncontested.
Just 8:20 into the first period, the Penguins regained the lead on a deflection by Matt Cooke. Robert Bortuzzo sent a cross-ice pass to Deryk Engelland for a one-timer. The puck was deflected by Cooke, who was positioned to the right of Holtby.
Early in the second period, the Capitals got a friendly bounce off the boards. John Carlson dumped the puck in where it bounced off the corner boards and went directly towards the net. Tomas Vokoun couldn’t recover from coming out of his net to play the puck, and the Capitals suddenly tied the game.
Typically, a friendly bounce will yield better results for the beneficiary team. But the Penguins came back, retook the lead three minutes later, and never looked back.
After killing a penalty, the Penguins were pressuring in the Capitals’ zone. Brandon Sutter spotted Kris Letang alone in the opposite face off circle. Letang paused before shooting the puck through the arm pit of Holtby for his second straight goal in as many days. Holtby looked up to the rafters, frustrated by giving up a preventable goal.
There would be more frustrating moments for Holtby.
Less than a minute after Letang’s goal, Kunitz scored to increase the lead to two. Kunitz received a return pass from Crosby in the high slot and fired a one timer for the quick score. Kunitz added a power play goal late in the second period, scoring on a backdoor pass from Evgeni Malkin who took advantage of some extra space after John Carlson lost his stick earlier in the play.
Mike Ribeiro scored three and a half minutes into the third to give the Capitals a pulse. However, as aggressively as they pushed to inch closer on the scoreboard, Tomas Vokoun kept the puck out of the net. Vokoun spurned his former team by making some excellent saves down the final stretch, all the while looking completely relaxed. He robbed Alexander Ovechkin from point blank range with a glove save.
Chris Kunitz would add his third goal of the game with eight seconds remaining. After Carlson and Ovechkin went off for minor penalties, Sidney Crosby setup Kunitz who was positioned perfectly in the slot. Kunitz’s shot beat Holtby high, glove side and the Penguins walked out of Washington with a 6-3 win.
- After allowing four goals to the New York Islanders last Tuesday, the Penguins have allowed four goals in the last three games combined.
- Chris Kunitz has six points in the last two games.
- Tomas Vokoun recorded his first win vs. Capitals since April 9th, 2011.
Three Stars
- Chris Kunitz
- Mike Ribeiro
- Evgeni Malkin
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
