Penguins Can’t Stop Capitals in the Third Period

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The Pittsburgh Penguins played a great game in the first two periods, trailing the Washington Capitals for only a short period of time. Unfortunately, Washington really pulled it out in the third period, grabbing a win in the first season match up between the two teams. Now that the Capitals were able to get out their frustration from last season’s playoffs, the Penguins should be able to put up a better fight against them in future games.

Less than four and a half minutes into the game, Sidney Crosby grabbed the opening goal of the game to get the Penguins off to a good start. Pittsburgh held the lead for about ten minutes, before Washington put in their first goal. Then, during the second minute of the second period, the Capitals took the lead. Luckily, the lead did not last long, because only 28 seconds later, the Penguins tied the game back up. Nick Johnson, called up for his first game with the Penguins, got the goal off an assist from Evgeni Malkin.

About half way through the game, Kris Letang gave Pittsburgh the lead again with his third goal of the season. In the final minutes of the second period, Alexander Ovechkin pulled out the tying goal for the Capitals, during a Power Play. The two teams entered the final period tied at three a piece, but Washington wouldn’t take much time to pull ahead. Two and a half minutes into the period, the Capitals got a goal, followed by a Power Play goal less than a minute later. The game would have ended 5-3, but the Capitals had a final goal into an Empty Net, during the last minute.

Despite taking the loss, Brent Johnson really played a great game in the net. Johnson, still filling in for the recovering Marc Andre Fleury, had 28 saves, with the majority of those saves coming in the first two periods. Johnson’s second and third period numbers were identical, with seven saves and two goals allowed. Unfortunately, the two goals allowed in the third period made the difference in the game.

The Penguins get a few nights off before taking on the Philadelphia Flyers, this Sunday, January 24. The Penguins are 3-1 against the Flyers this season, and can hopefully pull out a fourth win in Philadelphia. The puck will drop at 12:30 P.M. ET.