Caps Complete Weekend Sweep, Blank Penguins, 3-0

The Penguins iced a more regular lineup for yesterday’s matinee clash with the Capitals at Capital One Arena. Indeed, big guns Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust all returned to the lineup along with Parker Wotherspoon after sitting out Saturday’s loss to the Caps.

While the Pens were much more competitive, at least in terms of shot activity, the results were pretty much the same.

The Caps snapped a scoreless tie at 12:22 of the second period when light-scoring Trevor van Riemsdyk jammed the puck past Stuart Skinner from a goal-mouth scramble. Precisely the type of greasy goal the Pens are used to scoring.

It remained a one-goal affair until 15:50 of the third period. With Letang and partner Sam Girard pressing, the Caps countered on a 2-on-1. Egor Chinakhov tried to do what he could to break up the play, but Connor McMichael took a clean pass from Ryan Leonard and beat Skinner on the backhand.

When Pens coach Dan Muse pulled Stu for the obligatory extra attacker moments later, McMichael struck for his second of the game on an empty-netter to make the final count 3-zip, bad guys.

Puckpourri

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Pens had an edge in shot attempts (66-56) and scoring chances (35-32). The Caps held the advantage in shots on goal (26-24) and high-danger chances (19-18).

While Caps goalie Logan Thompson was the difference-maker, Skinner was sharp, too. Big Stu stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced for a .920 save percentage. With a .901 save percentage over his past four starts, he seems to be positioning himself as the Pens’ go-to goalie for the playoffs.

Noel Acciari, Connor Clifton, Ben Kindel, Blake Lizotte and Ryan Shea sat out yesterday’s contest with upper-body issues. Connor Dewar and Anthony Mantha rested due to lower-body ailments. Ryan Graves, Avery Hayes and freshly signed defenseman Jake Livanavage were healthy scratches.

Metrics-wise, three of the Pens’ forward lines played pretty well. The lone clunker? Surprisingly, the Tommy Novak–Rickard Rakell-Malkin trio. Novak had arguably our best scoring chances of the afternoon in the second period, but Thompson stopped him from point-blank range off a pretty feed from Rakell. Moments later, the puck rolled harmlessly off Tommy’s stick as he attempted to make a move on a partial breakaway.

Caps rookie Justin Sourdif had a goal disallowed on an obvious offside play in the final minute of the first period.

On an individual note, Crosby and Rust remain stuck on 29 goals, while Geno sits at 19. Sure would be nice to see them reach the next level. Of mild concern, Sid has just two goals in his last 18 games.

Of potentially greater concern, the rather non-descript play of prospect Rutger McGroarty at the big-league level. He logged a team-low 9:55 of ice time yesterday.

Sid, Geno and Tanger posed for photos with Alex Ovechkin prior to the game, fueling speculation that the Great Eight might hang up his skates this summer. Despite Ovi’s plea to “give me one,” Sid won the opening draw cleanly.

With second place in the Metro assured, the Pens (41-24-16, 98 points) had virtually nothing to play for, other than eliminating the Caps as a potential first-round opponent. Still a remote possibility.

At the present, with 94 points and two games to play, Philly occupies third in the Metro. The Caps (93 points) and CBJ (92 points) are still mathematically in the running, with one game each left to play.

Those pesky Islanders? They’ve been eliminated, thanks in no small part to the recent thrashing they received from our Pens.

Next up, the season finale in St. Louis on Tuesday night. Would love to see us get the ‘w’ and finish with 100 points.