There was certainly not a lack of excitement in Game 3 in Pittsburgh on Monday night. Pittsburgh was able to hold off Washington's ferocious attack to secure a 3-2 victory and a 2-1 series lead.
The reason the Penguins won is because Matt Murray flipped the switch on God-mode.
The Washington Capitals demolished the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they couldn't find an answer to Matt Murray until there wasn't enough time left. If this game lasted another five minutes we may have seen a tie game.
Matt Murray made 47 saves with 11 of those being from high danger areas.
It was really nice to see that Marc-Andre Fleury's head issues have cleared up to the point where he has been cleared to play. Head injuries are no fun. However, there is no goalie controversy here. It is Matt Murray's net now and probably the future, but that last part is a conversation for another day.
Alex Ovechkin was tremendous in Game 3. He had 18 shot attempts by himself which is exactly half the number of the entire Penguins team. With Matt Murray in God-mode it took the best shooter of all time to break the goose egg
It was Ovechkin's first goal in eight games this season against the Penguins.
Ovechkin was also responsible for the Capitals second goal. His shot made its way through from the point and struck iron. It left Justin Williams with an easy tap in goal to make the final stretch of the third period even more frantic.
Kris Letang made a very bad mistake and it could have some serious ramifications on the series. Letang caught Marcus Johansson up high with a hit after the puck was long gone at the Penguins blue line. The hit was unnecessary and stupid. He is definitely going to be looking at a suspension.
There was a lot of talk about how much specific time actually passed and what constitutes a late hit, but that is just splitting hairs. It was a bad hit. It was major interference. If you are keeping track (and I have) that is the third major penalty the referees have missed in this series.
So how long will Letang get suspended? Like it or lump it Marcus Johansson came back to play in the game and that is certainly one of the variables they look at. My guess is one game with two certainly being a possibility.
This year the Penguins have a FF% of 54.93% when Letang is on the ice versus 51.6% when he is off. Not going to be easy to replace him. Letang is probably the most important player on the team given the position he plays and not having anybody else able to do what he does.
Nicklas Backstrom should be joining Kris Letang on his Game 4 vacation as well. It isn't hard to see through his "whoopsy daisy" move to try and take Letang's head off with his knee.
This was a garbage play just like the Letang hit on Johansson. The officials missing major penalty calls is why this stuff festers the way it does. It enables players because they aren't afraid of repercussions and the players who are on the team of the guy that gets hit want retribution. That said I do not believe Backstrom will face any discipline.
So with Kris Letang likely to miss Game 4 and Olli Maatta's health situation still up in the air we may see Justin Schultz enter game action for the second time in these playoffs. It would be the second game in a row they would have to play a defenseman for the first time.
Derrick Pouliot's Game 3 performance wasn't perfect. He looked tight early on in the game but played better as the game moved on. He finished with the best possession numbers among Penguins defenders and was on the ice for the most shot attempts for. He certainly wasn't asked to play the most grinding minutes but once again it makes more sense to use players of his skill set in a bottom pairing than the lesser skilled guys.
Evgeni Malkin continues to receive low minutes.
Is this injury related or is the coach just riding the HBK line given their offensive production? If it isn't injury related Mike Sullivan will need to get Malkin some more ice time even if it means using the line combo blender at times during the game. I wouldn't mind seeing a Sheary-Crosby-Malkin line near the end of periods following the HBK line.
Speaking of the HBK line Nick Bonino had another point. That is now nine points in eight playoff games with Game 3 of the Rangers series being the only game he hasn't registered a point
Bryan Rust was hurt blocking a shot early in the first period. He did not return. There should be an update on Tuesday at some point. Oskar Sundqvist is probably the most likely candidate to be put into the lineup. Pittsburgh may have thought about going with seven defensemen but the pending and likely Letang suspension and Maatta injury make that an impossibility.
Stay tuned for suspension updates.
Game 4 is Wednesday night.
Thanks for reading!
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