Oh ye of little faith.
The good Lord has admonished me in this manner on more than one occasion. Truth be told, in the wake of the Penguins’ stunning 3-2 comeback victory over Washington last night in Game 1 of their second-round series at Capital One Arena, I rebuked myself in similar fashion.
For the better part of the evening, I told anyone within earshot at Wright’s Gym that I didn’t like our chances. This was a different Capitals team, I warned. They were capable, motivated and hungry to boot.
Nor did anything that occurred during the first 42 minutes do anything to alter my opinion. Especially after Alex Ovechkin, the hated ‘Great Eight’, took a slick drop pass from Tom Wilson, burst through the neutral zone and ripped the puck past goalie Matt Murray just 28 seconds into the final frame to stake the Caps to a seemingly airtight 2-0 lead.
Instantly, I launched into a tirade over the slipshod defensive work of Kris Letang, who was late getting back on the play. Having chased away the few remaining gym members viewing the proceedings with me on our big screen TV, my thoughts turned inward.
Game, set and match, I fumed.
How foolish of me to doubt. Once again, with our backs to the proverbial wall, our boys rose from the would-be ashes like the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions they are. Leave it to Patric Hornqvist to get us started. In his inimitable lunch-pail style, the blonde Swedish hammer beat Braden Holtby on a beauty of a deflection at 2:59.
In an instant, the tenor of the game shifted. Visibly so in the resigned shrug of Holtby’s shoulders when he realized the puck had gotten past him. But subconsciously, too. You could sense the doubt seep into the Capitals’ suddenly tentative play.
The Pens didn’t need an invitation to pounce. Like the fearsome German blitzkrieg rolling into the Low Countries, they unleashed their quick-strike attack to devastating effect. Just past the five-minute mark, Sidney Crosby one-timed a bouncing diagonal pass from Jake Guentzel between Holtby’s pads to knot the score at 2-2. It was Sid’s seventh goal of the playoffs.
Not to be outdone, Guentzel soon followed suit. Flashing that magic wand of a stick he wields in true Harry Potter fashion, the postseason scoring sensation deflected a knuckling shot from Crosby past Holtby on the short side. The three goals in 4:49 left the Caps deflated…and me more than a little chastened for my early negativity.
I’ve never been happier to be wrong.
Hopes restored, I cheered our Pens through a final difficult stretch. Regaining their composure, the Caps rained shot after shot at Murray…10 over the final 10 minutes of play and 18 in all during the third period. The icy-cool netminder was never better, thwarting Grade-A scoring chances by Ovechkin and Evgeni Kuznetsov before making a sprawling, 10-bell pad save on Brett Connolly with 2:20 to play.
Was it a perfect win? Not by a longshot. But it was a perfect way to start the series.
Perfectly delicious, too.
Hey Rick,
Looks like the kid, Guentzel is bent on etching himself into the annals of Penguins Playoff Glory. Back-to-Back games in which he strapped the team to his back and dragged them back from the brink.
My wife took a page from you and Darth Aggie, she left the room at the end of the 2nd period to give the Pens a chance to come back. Maybe if she had left earlier, Murray would have stopped Ovie too.
Don’t be too down on yourself for having doubts, many people did and more than likely still do. Any sane man has to acknowledge that the Caps are still a good team and that it takes 4 wins to win a series not 1. But it sure does feel good to steal one in your opponents backyard doesn’t it.
The extra day off should help get at least Malkin back into the line-up and maybe Hagelin too.
You gotta 3elieve Rick!!!!
One more thing,
Neither of us mentioned so far, our favorite former net minder MAF notched his 3rd SO this season blanking SJ 7 – 0 last night, Until we are facing you Mr Fleury, I am still pulling for you!
I hear ya, Other Rick. I’m pulling for Fleury, too. No one’s more deserving of success.
You know what I find interesting? Watching ‘Flower’ play behind a team that actually protects him. It’s funny to see him make one ordinary save at a time a la Martin Brodeur playing behind the Devils’ trap.
Knowing how much Flower likes the action, I wonder if he doesn’t secretly miss the wild old days with the Pens and all those odd-man breaks he faced.
Rick
I was so otherwise occupied that I didn’t realize that there was a game last night. I only found out after the fact, when my phone delivered the happy news.
Yer welcome.
If you could avoid watching Game 2 as well, that would be great … 🙂
Rick