Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, and Shaone Morrisonn each scored one goal and one assist to lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 18,277 fans at Verizon Center witnessed their Capitals defeat the Penguins for the third time this season; in the last five head-to-head matchups, Washington has come out on top in four of them.
Alexander Ovechkin scored the first goal of the game on a power play in the first period. Maxime Talbot scored the equalizer five minutes after Ovechkin netted goal #43 of the season. However, the Capitals quickly jumped back on top when Alexander Semin scored a power play goal of his own. After the first period, the Capitals led 2 to 1.
56 seconds into the second period, Sergei Fedorov scored Washington’s third goal with Alexander Semin getting the assist. Sergei Gonchar would then score his second goal of the season to put the Penguins back to within one. However, Shaone Morrisonn and Brooks Laich scored 25 seconds apart to put the Capitals up by a field goal. After the second period, the Capitals led 5 to 2.
One scoreless third period later, the Capitals improved to 38-17-5 while the Penguins fell to 29-26-6.
Capitals goalie Jose Theodore stopped 31 of 33 Penguin shots while Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was yanked from the net after giving up five goals on twenty shots. Mathieu Garon played the last 26:39 of the game in front of the Pittsburgh goal, making 14 saves on 14 shots.
Here is a short clip of some of the highlights from the game:
Here is a video from my friend ovechkinator portraying the intensity of the Crosby/Ovechkin rivalry:
When asked about Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin said, “What I can say about him? He is a good player, but he talks too much.”
When asked about Alexander Ovechkin, Crosby said, “Like it or lump it, that’s what he does. Some people like it, some people don’t. Personally, I don’t like it.
“I was just skating to the bench and he pushed me from behind. So I just gave him a shot back. That’s hockey, and he likes to run around these days, so that was it.”
“I play hard,” said Ovechkin. “If he wants to do something like hit me again, try to hit me again — and I’ll talk to you guys [about] who plays dirty. That’s my game. It’s not cheap shots, it’s a game moment. But he doesn’t like it, it’s his problem.”
When asked about the rivalry, Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau stated the following: “He [Crosby] started it…I think he got frustrated because he wasn’t getting the freedom he’s had in this building before. It adds spice. It’s entertainment. It gets your blood boiling a bit. And every time Alex gets a little more excitable, it can be good for us.”
