Brian Sickles: Caps 4, Pens 5 (OT) - Pittsburgh Steals a Point

Both teams don’t look like contenders right now. The Penguins always have to suffer against Washington. 4 points in 2 games. I’ll take it sir!

Frustrating game for sure, but I'm still holding my breath since we're only 4 games in with no preseason and a new system. With that said...

I've been really unimpressed with Chara so far. McAvoy clearly carried him last year and it makes sense why Boston couldn't promise him a spot in the lineup. I knew he couldn't skate at this point, but it's shocking he doesn't made up for it with his reach. Everyone just zips by or passes it right through him. He can only muscle someone off the puck if it's along the boards. And he's certainly not built for this Laviolette style of bringing the D up the rush. He doesn't have the speed to get up there or back the other way. Idk what promises B-Mac made to Chara when signing him, but I'd really like to give TVR or Siegs a look while we can afford to experiment. I hope he's just an old guy that needs a little extra time to get going and proves me wrong, but it's not looking good.

Loved Sprong's energy. Dude puts everything into those slappers. Still very curious about this Sprong/Sheary dilemma as well.

After 4 games in 6 days to start the season, they should (hopefully) be fresh with 2 days rest ahead of our date with BUF!

Yeah, VV played an AHL game last night. Pretty disappointing, but everyone has a bad day occasionally.

They should have scored on 5-3 would have been over early....

Wah Wah Wah.. We should have beaten Pens by several goals.
Pens arent even as good as the local beer league hockey team, but the refs screwed us and a player got frustrated.
Come on at least make an attempt to be honest.
end of 2nd: Caps 4 goals on 13 shots. Pens 4 goals on 15 shots.
Blogger: They had their way with DeSmith all night. VV turned in an AHL performance. Neither goalie had great stats after 2, but to hear this guy tell it, the Caps were shooting on a garbage can and lawn chair all night.... Seemed to me Pens--after the Oshie hit and they tied the game-- dominated the 3rd period even though they only had 4 D men.
The Pens have many flaws and Im not suggesting they will even make playoffs much less do damage. The goaltending sucks, among other things. But man this is one of the worst blogs I've ever read on here and I've been on here a long time. At least make an attempt to acknowledge the other side. I understand being a bit of a homer--you are Caps blogger after all. But even the other bloggers usually acknowledge the other team has NHL players and can be pretty good.

Frustrating game for sure, but I'm still holding my breath since we're only 4 games in with no preseason and a new system. With that said...

I've been really unimpressed with Chara so far. McAvoy clearly carried him last year and it makes sense why Boston couldn't promise him a spot in the lineup. I knew he couldn't skate at this point, but it's shocking he doesn't made up for it with his reach. Everyone just zips by or passes it right through him. He can only muscle someone off the puck if it's along the boards. And he's certainly not built for this Laviolette style of bringing the D up the rush. He doesn't have the speed to get up there or back the other way. Idk what promises B-Mac made to Chara when signing him, but I'd really like to give TVR or Siegs a look while we can afford to experiment. I hope he's just an old guy that needs a little extra time to get going and proves me wrong, but it's not looking good.

Loved Sprong's energy. Dude puts everything into those slappers. Still very curious about this Sprong/Sheary dilemma as well.

After 4 games in 6 days to start the season, they should (hopefully) be fresh with 2 days rest ahead of our date with BUF!
- ALLCAPS18

For how much they are paying Chara, He should be there for slappers on the PP and basically an enforcer at this point. His shot is still incredible and he's still massive and will take a lot of the pressure to fight off Wilson.

I still think he is a great signing.

Sprong was awesome for years when he played for Charlottetown. I found he kept using the same move, but it kept working.

I think he could be a pretty consistent 25-30 goal guy if he's paired with the right setup players.

The biggest take away I've had from these last few games, Ovi needs to pick up the scoring. He's had tons of chances but isn't capitalizing on them.

Wah Wah Wah.. We should have beaten Pens by several goals.
Pens arent even as good as the local beer league hockey team, but the refs screwed us and a player got frustrated.
Come on at least make an attempt to be honest.
end of 2nd: Caps 4 goals on 13 shots. Pens 4 goals on 15 shots.
Blogger: They had their way with DeSmith all night. VV turned in an AHL performance. Neither goalie had great stats after 2, but to hear this guy tell it, the Caps were shooting on a garbage can and lawn chair all night.... Seemed to me Pens--after the Oshie hit and they tied the game-- dominated the 3rd period even though they only had 4 D men.
The Pens have many flaws and Im not suggesting they will even make playoffs much less do damage. The goaltending sucks, among other things. But man this is one of the worst blogs I've ever read on here and I've been on here a long time. At least make an attempt to acknowledge the other side. I understand being a bit of a homer--you are Caps blogger after all. But even the other bloggers usually acknowledge the other team has NHL players and can be pretty good.

I appreciate your feedback @Amanion

While generally speaking, I try to provide a relatively objective blog, I will admit this entry leaned more subjective. Throughout the entirety of the blog, I thought I gave the Penguins credit without over acknowledging. This is a rivalry after all. I feel Caps vs Pens always deserves a little extra spice added to it and I am okay with that. While I do not feel my opinion was largely off, I will admit I can do a better job acknowledging the other side and thank you for bringing that to my attention. I am sorry you feel that way about my blog. Thank you for at least contributing, it is always nice to see Penguins fan engagement on the Caps side of things. Cheers to six more games! I’ll keep your feedback in mind on my next Caps vs Pens post.

I think is still a great rivalry because both teams are prob at or near a similar point in ‘their window.’

Casey DeSmith might be older but still only has about 60 games in the nhl so both teams are quite inexperienced in goal. There really seemed to be a mass exodus of big goalie talent leave this division this off season. Weird to not see holtby, hank, Murray in net. NJ with Blackwood now.

If you guys could stop dealing out 3 point games between the two of you, that would be much appreciated.

Ofc having the Caps neck and neck with us would be bad for my team, I was still pulling for you. It would have been nice if DC had helped us put Pitt way behind the 8 ball to start.