After punching their ticket to the postseason on Thursday and clinching the second spot in the Metropolitan Division, the Pittsburgh Penguins gave rest to the following players who are banged up for Saturday’s matchup against the Washington Capitals. They are all day-to-day.
- Sidney Crosby (lower-body)
- Evgeni Malkin (upper-body)
- Kris Letang (upper-body)
- Erik Karlsson (upper-body)
- Bryan Rust (lower-body)
- Parker Wotherspoon (upper-body
- Ben Kindel (upper-body)
"We're going to get through today's game. I'll have conversations with our medical staff, and we'll make determinations going into tomorrow,” Head Coach Dan Muse said.
While Captain Sidney Crosby didn’t play on Saturday, it was potentially the last time that Alex Ovechkin suited up for a game in Pittsburgh. During a TV timeout in the second period, a video tribute was shown that captured the last 20 years of the Crosby vs. Ovechkin rivalry. Afterward, there was a long ovation from everyone inside PPG Paints Arena for the NHL’s all-time goals leader.
“It was nice. It was a show of respect,” Ovechkin said on the reception from Penguins fans. “All that time that we spend on rivalries, like, you know, playoffs, other good [seasons], yeah. It shows respect."
Given who was out of the lineup, the Penguins struggled to generate offense against the Capitals’ defense throughout the first period. Arturs Silovs was able to deny Ovechkin of two clear-cut scoring chances, but Washington outshot Pittsburgh 10-1 after 20 minutes.
“There were a lot of chances, there were a lot of pucks,” Muse said. “In the first period, (Silovs) made some huge saves for us. As the game went on, there were just some of those second opportunities that we have to clean up.”
The Capitals would open the scoring a minute and a half into the second period when Aliaksei Protas scored his 25th goal of the season after the set-up pass from his younger brother, Ilya Protas. The Penguins were able to find a response less than one minute later off the stick of Anthony Mantha. After an offensive zone faceoff win, Ryan Shea slid the puck to the left circle, where Mantha’s shot found its way through traffic and in.
A few minutes later, on an odd-man rush, Pierre-Luc Dubois made a centering pass before falling hard into the boards. At the far post, Ryan Leonard deflected the puck right into Silovs’s glove. After a review from the officials, they determined that the puck fully crossed the goal line. Two minutes later, the Capitals made it 3-1 when both Aliaksei and Ilya Protas set up Tom Wilson for his 30th goal of the season.
Noal Acciari would get the Penguins within one as he banged in the rebound in front of Logan Thompson, but on the ensuing face-off, Leonard scored his second goal of the game just nine seconds after Acciari's 13th goal of the season.
Kevin Hayes was able to pull the Penguins within a goal after he was sent on a partial breakaway coming out of the penalty box. He snapped a hard wrist shot over the glove of Thompson in his first game since March 3.
“I know that I’m not the fastest player, but I assumed that they were pretty tired,” Hayes said. “Lucky situation, but it’s always good to score. You want to help the team a little bit, but ultimately, we didn’t get the two points.”
In the third period, the Penguins were only down by one but were outmatched by Washington’s desperation to keep their season alive. Ilya Protas would get his first NHL goal in just his second career game, which capped off a three-point night for the 19-year-old, while Ovechkin would ice the game with an empty net goal for the 6-3 final score.
Pittsburgh will now travel to Washington, where they will finish the home-and-home series on Sunday, before ending the season in St. Louis on Tuesday.
“Tomorrow’s a new day,” Mantha said. “We’re going to try to win, obviously, that’s what you do every night. We’re going to fly out there and try to do it tomorrow.”
With Saturday being Fan Appreciation Night for the last home game of the regular season, the team has appreciated all of the fans’ support throughout the year. Come next week, the atmosphere inside PPG Paints Arena will be at its peak when the Penguins host Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“The fans are incredible,” Muse said. “I mean, even going back to the exhibition games and seeing it with Marc-Andre Fleury, just how special a building and fanbase it is. You can feel the passion from the fans, it’s real, and you can feel it every night.”
