Things are looking good two games removed from the beat down the Penguins received from the Chicago Blackhawks. Last night they won their second game in a row over a quality opponent and it was another strong defensive performance.
Yes, the Penguins are doing a nice job defensively. After giving up 34 and 44 shots in their first two games they have reduced that number to 26 against Nashville and only 22 last night to Washington. When the Penguins are able to manage the puck successfully they are a really tough team to beat.
Patric Hornqvist's return to the lineup was a successful one. He had a goal and an assist on the power play. Everything was from the familiar blue print that Hornqvist has used for a long time. He was near the front of the net smashing away at the puck and when he does that sometimes the bounces are fortuitous. Pittsburgh was able to score three power play goals. Hornqvist did what he had to with his opportunities, but I don't believe personnel was what drove the power play success. Getting the puck to the net more often is what helped. When the Penguins played on the perimeter it made life easy for the Capitals. When they simplified and got the puck near the net front things happened.
I love Kris Letang, but one area that I will continue to be critical of is how he passes on shots when quarterbacking the power play. A good power play with player movement also needs the penalty killers to believe that there will be a shot coming. If they don't they can sit on the passes and keep the power play on the perimeter. When Kris Letang walks the blue line his body language has to scream shot. Even if he doesn't always shoot he needs to look the part. Two things are going to happen. Either you have a shooting lane and you already have the puck in a shooting position or the PK guy up top sells out on shot and now you have a wide open player somewhere. I feel as though when Letang walks the blue line his body language screams that he is going to defer the puck. It's a simple fix and it can go a long way to making what is a good power play even better.
I don't want to be too negative on Letang because he was great last night (and most nights). He scored his first goal since February and he was 62.5% on the shot attempt front at 5v5. Brian Dumoulin has to be loving life these days.
Pittsburgh was good on the other side of special teams as well. They held a great power play scoreless on four opportunities. I love the Capitals power play. It is beautiful to watch. I thought Pittsburgh's decision to be very aggressive was a good one. If you sit back against Washington they will eat you alive because they have the shot first mentality that I spoke about above.
Olli Maatta and Justin Schultz didn't play together at 5v5. They did get some time on the power play and both registered assists on Conor Sheary's game winning goal.
Alex Ovechkin rifled off seven shots last night and only scored once. I say only once because he was shooting 38.8% heading into last night's game. He is off to an amazing start.
Sidney Crosby had an assist. He has a point in every game so far this year
Pittsburgh is back in action tonight against one of the better teams from the Atlantic Division. They will be in Tampa Bay tonight to face the Lightning
Thanks for reading!