Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals has long become a real classic of modern hockey. In terms of intensity, the battles between the “penguins” and the “capital” are comparable to full-fledged derbies, and their battles in the playoffs gathered fans of the best sport with a stick and a puck from all over the globe at the screens.
However, recently the fire in head-to-head matches between two seemingly irreconcilable rivals has gradually faded. Even Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, whose history of opposition is already a separate chapter in the endless epic of the NHL, after many years of tough and at times brutal duel became close friends. Most recently, two major antagonists in modern league history performed a revealing joint number at the last All-Star Game in Florida. And on the eve of the next face-to-face meeting, the players of “Pittsburgh” and “Washington” had a general dinner at all. The speech, however, concerns only the Russian-speaking hockey players of both teams: the family of Evgeni Malkin invited their compatriots from the camp of the «capital» Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alexander Alekseev, as well as Belarusian Alexei Protas.
To some, such a move may seem ordinary: «All of them, after all, but why does it matter which clubs they play for?» However, such meetings are not regular. Another indicator of mutual respect was the events that took place directly during today's match. Even when the lineups were announced, the Pittsburgh fans in their arena gave Ovechkin a standing ovation when the announcer announced his name, and later, during one of the mini-breaks in the first period, the Penguins congratulated Alexander on his historic achievement — the Russian's exit to a clean second place in the list of the best scorers in the history of the NHL championships.
Penguin fans who hated Ovechkin in the relatively recent past now gave him their applause. Ovi himself personally congratulated Sidney Crosby, who was also honored during the first period on the occasion of the 11th season of the Canadian with 30 goals or more.
However, with the starting face-off, everyone forgot about friendship. And this is easily explained: both teams are in a fierce battle for a place in the playoffs, and one of them will definitely not have enough tickets to travel for the Stanley Cup. And if “Pittsburgh” is in a relatively promising position, then “Washington” because of the failed series at the finish of the “regular season” brought the situation to a critical point. That's why the fight on the PPG Paints Arena turned out to be sharp and aggressive — when every victory is worth its weight in gold, thoughts of a personal principled confrontation do not even arise.
“Capitals” won the debut and looked more dangerous at the start, in some other moments, the “capitals” also acted more preferable. Alexander Ovechkin, among other things, had a great moment for a goal, but the Russian sniper did not realize a one-to-zero exit — Pittsburgh goalkeeper Casey Desmith guessed the Washington captain's plan. He also made an amazing save after an Ovechkin assisted John Carlson.
“Penguins” disposed of their moments competently. Moreover, these moments, “Capitals” gave the principal opponent themselves together. First, Ryan Peeling punished the guests for a blunder in the transfer. Two minutes later, Chad Ruwedel completed an almost identical Penguin counterattack, and at the start of his third debut, Jake Günzel set the score 3-0, taking advantage of another failure of the Caps defenders.
However, even with such an advantage, the Pence did not win a foregone conclusion. During the current season, Mike Sullivan's team has repeatedly lost the game out of control and missed certain victories. This almost happened in today's crazy match. A little more than 10 minutes of the third period, “Washington” played all three goals!
First, Evgeny Kuznetsov, after a misfire by Chris Letang, pulled the puck to the far side and gave a perfect pass from behind the gate to Tom Wilson. Tom had less than a meter to hit.
Then, Alexander Ovechkin visited his favorite office and loaded his branded cannon from there on the power play, having already scored the 822nd goal in the NHL championships. Only 72 goals to Wayne Gretzky's record!
Well, Dylan Strome scored next, equalizing the score with more than two minutes before the end of normal time. It seemed that overtime could not be avoided, but Evgeni Malkin found his own argument against this scenario. The Russian super-forward of “Pittsburgh” has so far been distinguished in the game only by a somewhat aggressive behavior, constant skirmishes with rivals and other non-standard actions. But at the crucial moment he showed a master class. Gino quickly ran into a counterattack and with a magnificent wrist throw “flashed” the goalkeeper of “Washington”. The emotions of Eugene and the entire “Pittsburgh” cannot be described in words — you have to look at it. Even Sidney Crosby was happy as a child!
4-3 — Pittsburgh not only scored an important victory over a principled rival, but also earned a key two points in the fight for getting into the playoffs. “Washington” is almost lost the chance to participate in the Stanley Cup. So far only formally, but soon it will actually happen.