Game 4 in any series is always a pivotal matchup. This is not news. This is a lede. At the end of it, you’re either looking at a 4-0, a 3-1, or a 2-2 series (source: mathematics). One of those things is not like the others.
And if you’re on the receiving end of a 2-1 deficit heading into G4, sometimes you get this said about you after losing Game 3:
“For the 3rd straight game in this series, [the Pengiuns] were far from their best. They failed to put together a complete 60 minute, mistake-free effort and it cost them. This is an undeniable truth.
This is the NHL playoffs, fam. If you’re making mistakes, and especially making more mistakes than your opposition, you’re going to get punished. Turns out, all the Caps needed were 2 egregious turnovers to turn this game from a 4-2 loss into a 4-3 win.”
Last night, the Penguins were far from perfect. The made a few mistakes because this is sports and that happens, but by and large limited the quantity and quality. The result: categorically good (and a 2-2 series).
What this also means, as you’re surely well aware, whomever loses that Game 5 tiebreaker ends up being 1 loss away from hitting the golf course early (source: also mathematics). If the Penguins play the way they did in this one, it won’t be them looking for tee times.
Because, folks, they owned the puck for so much of this. And even when they took to defending their lead in the 3rd and letting the Caps actually have the puck, they were preventing the Caps from doing dick with it, keeping the Caps to just 3 shots on goal. All this while also preventing Ovi from registering a single shot on target in the game.
Moreover, despite the Caps having a 57.14% shot attempt share in the 3rd, the Penguins were out there still generating scoring chances at a higher clip than the Caps (8-6 in the 3rd, 21-15 on the game).
That result: also good
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom came off the ice, threw his stick in the dressing room hallway and screamed "F— this league” after the game. https://t.co/BE1YL8rURi
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) May 4, 2018
With these Pens-Caps series, you can always pinpoint the exact moment the Caps have fallen apart. Feels like it’s Backstrom screaming “fuck the league” and the lengths the PR department is going to dispute it.
— Alex (@alb_971) May 4, 2018
Saturday kicking off the best of 3 is gonna be lit, fam.
LINEUP
Welcome back to the lineup, @CarlHagelin! pic.twitter.com/9wpTIiuwwY
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 3, 2018
The Penguins, they are a getting healthier (kinda). Hot Carl returned to the lineup alongside Sheahan and Phil! Malkin and Hornqvist, replacing the broken jawed ZAR. Simon inexplicably got moved up to Crosby’s RW (and was insanely good) instead of bumping down to 4LW, where poor Derick Brassard, anchored by Kuhnackl, stayed.
Looks like this is your *actual* #Pens lineup:
Guentzel-Crosby-Simon
Hagelin-Malkin-Hornqvist
Sheary-Sheahan-Kessel
Kuhnhackl-Brassard-Rust— Sam Werner (@sjwerner11) May 3, 2018
Meanwhile, a different, non-dead acronym boy was elevated up to play with Ovi and Kuznetsov in place of the suspended piss boy. That result: Bad. DSP got caved the fuck in, being on the ice for just 6 shot attempts for and 21 (!!!) against at 5v5 as that trio got the assignment against 59-87-12.
Of course, Murr vs. Holtby in the blue.
Do you think it grows naturally like that? pic.twitter.com/RTAUFiLU4L
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 3, 2018
GOALS
PIT – 2nd Pd./9:21 – Guentzel; A: Simon, Crosby – 1-0
For the second straight game, the opening goal of the matchup refused to come until the 2nd period, despite an entertaining opening 20 minutes. The Pens came out of the gate like gangbusters, drawing a penalty on Carlson just 1:10 into the game for hooking Crosby after a speedy, grimy 59-87-12 shift. They got a couple of tough bounces on the PP with the puck jumping over Malkin’s and Hornqvist’s sticks on consecutive chances, effectively killing off the penalty.
That’s when the Caps started gaining life and tilt the play a bit more in their favor than they previously had. But it was Jake Guentzel with the best chance late on in the period, getting a bounce to go his way, only to be denied by Holtby’s stick after Crosby clowned Kuznetsov twice behind the net.
In all seriousness, watching Crosby impose his will on elite centers will never get old. This would be a microcosm of how the Crosby vs. Kuznetsov game would go.
As the 2nd period started, Malkin took his obligatory penalty just 37 seconds in to give the Caps lethal PP their first chance of the night. The Penguins killed it off and went back to creating chances of their own because the sports are good again.
The best one came almost immediately after the penalty expired, in which the Penguanos cleared the puck out and unleashed Crosby’s Hounds. He and Simon, led by the latter, stormed in on a 2v1 in which Dom made his first good play with the puck on his stick of the series, throwing some Mulan Szechuan Sauce over to 87.
Before you have a panic attack and spill your morning Iron City coffee because 87 didn’t shoot, consider Holtby here. He not only sells out to get across and deny Crosby the one-timer, but he also forces Crosby to try to wait him out by staying with him as 87 patiently drifted down low looking for the angle, almost like a defenseman. Sid was left with no other option but to hit Jultz trailing as the angle disappeared, but by that point, Orlov had the shooting lane taken away to make blocking great again with a quick kick save.
But right after, Chandler Stephenson, who’s dipshit name sounds like the heartthrob in 90s romcom, took a hooking penalty against Bake 3:30 into the period to put the Pens on another PP. They couldn’t break the deadlock on that one, but did a few minutes later coming from another breakout led again by the Guentzel-Crosby-Simon threesome.
First, the D stretch pass to Simon through the neutral zone caught the Caps as they crowded their right side to seal off the exit. But in overloading that side, it opens you up to getting hit on the break if the pass gets through to the weak side. It did just that and it gave Simon enough runway to go right at Orlov, getting the Crosby overlap-to-give-and-go combo city, freeing up the shooting lane in the slot for Simon. Guentzel once again got a fortuitous bounce, but this time was able to snap it by Holtby because he is a sweet baby boy and rules.
WSH – 2nd Pd./12:55 – PPG – Oshie; A: Backstrom, Kuznetsov – 1-1
But right after he scored, he went from GOAT to goat, heading to the box for tripping Eller. And because the Caps PP is not to be trifled with this postseason, you just knew they were scoring on one of these chances. For a while, they were running Kuznetsov on the halfwall opposite Ovi. But since they moved Backstrom back there, this PP has been even more frightening and it could not have been any more evident than here.
There is nothing there for him. Maatta and Hagelin have their sticks in the lane, but he just waits them out and waits until Kuznetsov tied up Ruhwedel in front to feed Oshie in the middle of the box. As that happened, Kuzya got out of the way, leaving Ruhwedel planted firmly in Murr’s line of sight. No matter how you slice it, that’s a great goal manufactured solely by Backstrom’s magisterial nature on the puck. Credit where credit is due.
when mom says no pizza rolls tonight pic.twitter.com/CmaCSmSRs7
— nerd king geoff (@geoffwithano) May 4, 2018
PIT – 2nd Pd./17:31 – PPG – Malkin; A: Crosby, Phil! – 2-1
Shortly thereafter, the Pens had to go back to the kill with Guentzel back in the box for slashing Kuznetsov, who is both a baby and a used diaper filled with tapeworms. All Murr all the time on the PK, showing once again that he was/is the best penalty killer the Pens could ice. It set the stage for Oshie to do Timothy Jimothy things and interfere with Dumoulin because Timothy Jimothy is a dumb fucking idiot.
The eventual game winner was always going to have to go through Phil! because that’s how the PP clicks. A blocked shot and a re-fired shot put Hornqvist to work, banging at the loose puck. It came out to Gene to find iron, but Orpik dumping Horny over Holtby kept the play alive enough for Malkin to dive in and will it across the line, willing his ass across the parallax view in the process.
Evgeni Malkin: "It's not a great goal. It's a garbage goal for me."
Man, the Russian judge really is tough. #Pens #Caps
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) May 4, 2018
PIT – 3rd Pd./19:02 – PPG/ENG – Guentzel; A: Hornqvist, Letang – 3-1
Taking a 2-1 lead into the 3rd period meant one and only one thing.
Unfortunately, Tom Wilson wasn’t around to slurp it all up.
The pace was frantic and frenetic but it was a vintage Mike Sullivan Era Penguins 3rd Period: They went into Warrior Mode. Swedish Wario led the charge, putting his sac on the line every single shift. The D was steady and when all was said and done, they held the Caps to just 3 third period shots, even with having pulled Holtby with about 90 seconds to play.
That said, they got caught with too many men, putting the Pens on the PP with the empty net looming.
After the Caps got it out and got it down deep into the Pens zone, Letang had to deal with Oshie divebombing into an attempted assassination to chip it high off the glass. Crosby came down with the puck, sent Ovi’s jock to the moon, and hit Jake on the exit to find the gimme goal.
All this overshadowed by TJ Oshie being a gutless dweeb. Not only tries disconnect Letang’s head from his body, but dropped fist bombs into his dome as he was on his back after their scrap.
Timothy Jimothy Oshie jumps into the 8th row trying to take Letang's head off pic.twitter.com/UC4KADZXnU
— nerd king geoff (@geoffwithano) May 4, 2018
This, though:
taking a run at someone in the corner and leaving the ice by 3 feet to do so while an empty net goal is being scored against your team with a minute left is peak loser mentality.
— Mike Darnay (@MikeDarnay) May 4, 2018
Game.
NOTES
- Look out, world. There’s a new Best Line in town. Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby simply cannot be stopped right now. Guentzel’s video game stat line now reads 10G-11A in 10 GP. Crosby sits at 8G-11A in those same 10 games, giving them both more points in 14 fewer playoff games than 87 had in 2016 (and 6 and 8 fewer points than Crosby had in 24 GP last season, respectively).
Via the @Penguins – Jake Guentzel is now just one of just seven players to have scored 20 points in their teams first 10 playoff appearances. Other names on the list: Gretzky (x5), Bossy, and Messier.
— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) May 4, 2018
- While we’re talking about gamers, Matt Murray was just that. He got off to a little bit of a rocky start in the 1st, took a heavy shot off the collarbone, but ended up settling in nicely to post a .952 SV%, making 20 saves.
- Other good game havers include Brian Dumoulin, Dominik Simon, Kris Letang, and Chad Ruhwedel. Outside of Sid and Bake, Dumo and Ruhwedel have probably been the most steady and consistent players. On ice numbers at evens:
| Shot Attempts For | Shot Attempts Against | Shot Attempt Share | Scoring Chances For | Scoring Chances Against | High Danger SC For | High Danger SC Against | |
| Dumoulin | 24 | 9 | 72.73% | 12 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Simon | 21 | 9 | 70% | 13 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| Letang | 22 | 15 | 59.46% | 11 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| Ruhwedel | 8 | 6 | 57.14% | 5 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
- One last thing on TJ Oshie: Fuck him. The Capitals are like the headshotting Hydra. Cut off one head and TJ Oshie tries to decapitate another.
The league will 100% be looking at TJ Oshie. Just put himself at risk of suspension. Left his feet in an egregious fashion and clearly tried to injure Letang there.
— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) May 4, 2018
Game 5 back in DC on Saturday night. Bury them and grab this series by the dick. LGP.
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