Penguins pleased by first result after role reversal with Capitals

PITTSBURGH -- There was something missing at the Pittsburgh Penguins season opener against the Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremonies were part of the pregame routine in Pittsburgh at the start of the past two seasons. But after the Capitals ended their three-peat dreams in May, the Penguins watched their biggest rival go on to win the Cup in June and raise their first championship banner Wednesday.
So it was a run-of-the-mill start to opening night for Pittsburgh on Thursday. No frills, no banner and no Cup.
The game itself was far more eventful. Kris Letang's power-play goal 1:20 into overtime ended the seesaw battle and
gave the Penguins a 7-6 victory.

They'll take the two points but know they have a lot more work to do to take back the upper hand in this rivalry -- and the Cup.
"The first one is always like that," Letang said. "You're always a little bit nervous. We're going to learn from it and get better."
That the game ended in overtime was the only thing it had in common with the last time the Penguins and Capitals played, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Second Round here on May 7. That was a tight-checking game that the Capitals won 2-1 on Evgeny Kuznetsov's breakaway goal 5:27 into overtime to send the Penguins to their longest offseason since they lost in five games to the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference First Round in 2015.
After having the entire offseason to think about that ending, the Penguins seemed happy to get a chance to mollify the memory by facing the Capitals to open this season. The roles are reversed now with the Penguins looking for revenge and the Capitals having something they want.
"It's still fresh in your mind," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "A lot of things both teams were trying to do a few months ago, you're trying to do the exact same thing. It's just who's going to do it better, who's going to execute better, but I think playing a team that you lost to, it's always a big game to start the season.
"Against them, it was probably a little bit more."

The Penguins and Capitals met in the second round of the playoffs the past three seasons. Pittsburgh knocked off Washington on its way to winning the Cup in 2016 and 2017 before the Capitals turned the tables last season and went on to win the Cup for the first time in their 43-season history.
They've played 19 playoff games against each other over the past three seasons, and there very well could be more coming at the end of this season.
"I don't think there's really any secrets out there between us two teams," Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray said. "We've seen them a whole lot, obviously, the last little bit. They're a great team obviously. They're one of the best teams in the League, for sure. I think we're a pretty good team as well."
The Penguins' offensive weaponry was on full display in the season opener. Letang had two goals and an assist, Jake Guentzel scored twice, Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, and Crosby got two assists.
But as they did in the playoffs last season, the Penguins struggled at times defensively against the Capitals' speed and with handling the puck. Murray had a rough start, allowing three goals on the first four shots he faced.
Then when Pittsburgh appeared to have the game under control with a 6-4 lead in the third period, Malkin turned over the puck to T.J. Oshie, who scored with 6:59 remaining to pull Washington within one goal. Oshie scored again on a deflection 21 seconds later and the game was tied 6-6.

"One of the conversations that we've had with our team over the last week is we're talking about our team identity because we're trying to define what that is specifically," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "As I said to our guys, part of the fabric of our team identity has to be becoming a team that's hard to play against and becoming a team that doesn't beat itself. Otherwise, it's hard to win."
Finding a way to win was the start of establishing that identity, but Sullivan expects that process to continue over the course of the season. The Capitals, who kept their roster from last season mostly intact, showed they also have work to do after everything looked so easy for them in their 7-0 win against the Boston Bruins in their season opener Wednesday.
Crosby said he watched a little of that game on television. No doubt the Penguins and Capitals will keep an eye on each other throughout this season, knowing there will likely be another playoff series coming.
The Penguins couldn't change what happened in their most recent postseason meeting in the game Thursday, but they said they felt they took a positive first step in the new season.
"I think we wanted to respond to last season," Letang said. "I don't think it mattered if it was them or another team. I think the correct way to do it in front of our fans is starting on the right foot, and we showed up and we did a bunch of good things."