Outshooting an opponent more than 2:1 and losing the game is never easy, but that’s exactly what happened to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.
The Penguins took 41 shots on the Washington Capitals’ Tomas Vokoun, while choking Washington’s offense, which had been averaging 39 SOG, to just 19 attempts at goal.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury sat the game out with an illness, and replacement Brent Johnson stopped just 16 of the 19 shots thrown his way. That’s not to say Johnson had a bad game, though.
Washington’s first goal came when Penguin-killer Mike Knuble drove the net hard from the endboards. The puck bounced around the body-packed crease before ending up in the back of the net. Fluky goal, but I guess it still counts.
The Capitals’ second goal came when Mike Green fired a shot from the point, which ended up deflecting perfectly off the idle stick of Alex Ovechkin and into the top of the net.
Goal number three came in overtime when Caps defenseman Dennis Wideman slipped past penalty killer Matt Cooke and found himself wide open in the slot with the puck on his stick. It was Washington’s only power play of the night.
James Neal scored both of Pittsburgh’s goals and leads the NHL with four markers at the moment.
Tonight the Penguins (3-0-2) will take on the Buffalo Sabres (2-1-0) at the Consol Energy Center.
The Penguins have won the last six meetings between the teams, including all four last season.
Who to watch: Sabres forward Thomas Vanek has three goals in his team’s three games this season. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang ranks second among all NHL skaters with five assists and six points.
I’ll have an update later with the teams’ expected lines and goaltenders, though at this point I’d imagine it’ll be a Fleury vs. Ryan Miller matchup in net.
11:50 AM: UPDATE – Evgeni Malkin will not play tonight. Geno had two assists in his return to the lineup Thursday after sitting out -the two previous games. He did not practice yesterday and did not participate in today’s morning skate. Head coach Dan Bylsma has stated that Malkin hasn’t suffered a setback in his recovery from knee and is simply experiencing some soreness.
11:57 AM: UPDATE – Marc-Andre Fleury will be goal for the Penguins.
12:47 PM: UPDATE – Buffalo will go with Jhonas Enroth in net. It will be Enroth’s first start of the season.
7:00 PM: UPDATE – Penguins’ lines for tonight:
Sullivan-Letestu-Neal
Kunitz-Staal-Kennedy
Cooke-Vitale-Dupuis
Asham-Park-Adams
Martin-Michalek
Letang-Engelland
Niskanen-Lovejoy
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