Penguins Lose To Capitals

The goal scoring race is on

I cannot look at losing all of our games against New Jersey and Washington as anything but a negative. I know Crosby and some others have downplayed the importance of not being swept by an inevitable playoff opponent, but I don’t see it. I feel that it does not bode well for a playoff matchup. Now, I have heard countless people say that they are not worried because the Pens will “step up” their game in the playoffs. Don’t you think that the Capitals will also “step up” their game? New Jersey….maybe not so much because they play such a defensive game to begin with. I would have felt better if the Pens could have pulled tonight’s game out.

I have to say that after watching the game tonight, I have determined the Pens shooting is horrible. For quite a while now, people have been complaining about Kris Letang missing the net. (Which, of course, he deserves) The problem is not limited to him. Also, it is not just missing the net. It involves passing up shooting opportunities or even shooting the puck right into the goaltender. Tonight, Goligoski passed up more good shooting chances than I care to remember. Tyler Kennedy has been a focus of mine regarding this issue all season. It still holds true. He is a nice player. He could be a really good player if he could finish. It just seems that there is a lot of room for improvement in the overall team shooting.

Notes:

Fleury with not 1, but 2 softies tonight. I am hoping he can get that worked out in like a week.
What was up with Semin acting like he got shot in the head on Talbot’s hit on him? I saw the replay, and I could not see anything that would cause him to go down for the count. Have I mentioned that I dislike him as much as any player in the league. He is such a baby, and this clip is embarrassing to men and to hockey alike:

So Crosby scored one goal and Ovechkin scored two goals to tie up the goal-scoring race. One of Ovechkin’s goals was an empty netter. For those of you wondering: Crosby has just one empty net goal vs. Ovechkin’s 5.

Looking forward to the last game in the Igloo on Thursday night. It should be quite a night.

Reg Dunlop