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Penguins Jake the playoffs yet again

April 30, 2021, 11:04 AM ET [125 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Penguins had an inside look at first place up until they didn’t. They are now tied with Washington for the division lead with the Capitals holding a game in hand. It was Tom Wilson’s goal in the waning seconds of regulation which tied the game and gave Washington a single point to tie the Penguins in the standings.

Pittsburgh got another player back from injury and that player scored a goal last night. Freddy Gaudreau’s return bumps Mark Jankowski out of the lineup which is something all people can agree on is a good thing.

Kasperi Kapanen was the story for the Penguins. He continues to look fast and dart all over the ice. His ability to score on the rush has been a constant this year. He added two more goals last night. The first one kind of mimicked being in transition after he picked off the puck and went in alone on the goalie




The second one was definitely in transition and was a tremendous shot




Kapanen is on pace for a 24 goal and 60 point 82 game season. This year has been a success for the former and current Penguin.

Jake Guentzel scored the game winning goal and continues to gift the city of Pittsburgh with half-priced milkshakes.




It was his 22nd goal of the year and the clinched the playoffs of the Penguins. It is looking like he will get 24 maybe 25 goals this year coming up short of my absurd 30 goal prediction before the season. If you extrapolate to 82 games his pace was another 35 goal season. He is just a gifted goal scorer. It isn’t just him playing with Crosby.


As for the Capitals tying things on Tom Wilson’s late goal, it was deserved.



Kris Letang is having a great season. This was not a great moment. He chased behind the net for… reasons??? The Capitals had an extra attacker out there. No reason to cheat behind the net. It is the last place you want to be and it is right next to the #1 spot you should be. Moment prior the Capitals had multiple players wide open in front of the net, but the puck didn’t get through. Between those two sequences the Capitals more than deserved to tie the game late.


I believe I heard on the Washington broadcast it was the first time Alex Ovechkin had missed a game against the Penguins. Part of Ovie’s greatness is his ability to stay in the lineup because he is an absolute tank. It was really weird not having him out there. I wasn’t surprised by this fact, more impressed. The other fact the broadcast through out there I was genuinely surprised at. They said Crosby had only missed seven Capitals games. I thought it would be way higher considering the long term absences Sid has had during different parts of his career. We’ve been lucky to get the lion’s share of Crosby vs Ovechkin games. Too bad noted cheap shot artist David Steckel disagreed.


I talked about Kapanen having ten goals on the year earlier. What if I told you Daniel Sprong had… 11? His goal last night was his 11th in his 37th game. Not bad for someone who has bounced around quite a bit in his career.


That Evgeni Malkin guy made the trip and has been cleared for full contact sooooo, might be Geno Machino time when the two teams will meet for the final time (maybe) this year tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!
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