The Washington Capitals had home ice advantage and momentum from their overtime win in Game Six, the Caps felt they were ready to advance.
The Penguins had the services of their playoff veteran Sergei Gonchar, who had missed the last two games with a knee injury. The Penguins made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals last year, and they too were ready to win.
The first ten minutes of the game were a chaotic free-for-all. The Caps started with their checking line, so the hitting was hard from the drop of the puck. Three minutes in, offensive powerhouse (ten goals, three assists in the series) Alex Ovechkin got a breakaway opportunity, but Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleurry got a glove on it. At the opposite end, Caps goalie Simeon Varlamov was also tested by a few good shots.
Ten minutes into the period, the pace changed as the Penguins settled down and started playing with precision, passing crisply on offense and forechecking with intensity when the Caps had the puck.
The Capitals did not sharpen up in response; instead, their play got increasingly sloppy. The Caps seemed unable to clear their zone or control the puck, turning it over eleven times in the first period (versus zero turnovers for Pittsburgh.)
Cracks in the Dam
Pittsburgh got a power play opportunity at 11:29 when the Caps were called for slashing. The Penguins converted when Sidney Crosby picked up the rebound off a Gonchar drive and poked it past Varlamov for the game’s first of many scores.
A scant eight seconds later, Pittsburgh forward Craig Adams picked up a pass at the top of the key and slammed a shot past Varlamov; Pittsburgh 2, Capitals, nil.
Satan almost gave the Penguins a 3–0 lead with a blazing shot from the right point, but Varlamov got a pad on it. Simeon Varlamov’s clutch goaltending was the only thing that prevented a first-period blowout; he kept the Caps in (or at least near) the game, but he wasn’t getting any help from his teammates.
The Dam Breaks
The second period started with an explosive drive by Penguins forward Bill Guerin—a forty-five foot drive that beat Varlamov, only 28 seconds into the period.
One minute-forty-five later, Kris Letang beat Varlamov glove-side with as rising drive from the face-off circle. Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau pulled Varlamov, replacing him with José Theodore. This didn’t turn the tide; halfway through the period, Jordan Staal worked a give-and-go with Miro Satan and sneaked a shot past Theodore giving the Penguins a 5–0 edge.
Finally, with 1:51 to go in the second period, the Caps got a break as Penguins’ netminder Marc-Andre Fleurry chased a loose puck behind his own net and got caught out when Alex Ovechkin stole the puck and tucked it around the right post, putting the Caps on the board.
‘Let’s go, Caps!’
The Capitals started the period with two two-minute-penalties for high-sticking as Sidney Crosby caught a stick in the mouth..
Alex Ovechkin, trying to maneuver free for a short-handed shot, gave up the puck to Crosby in the Penguin’s zone. Crosby broke free and took the puck from end to end, beating Theodore for the sixth Pittsburgh goal.
At 7:36, Caps forward Tomas Fleischmann muscled the puck down the right-wing boards all the way to the net. Fleurry stopped his shot, but couldn’t stop XXX on the rebound.
The last ten minutes opf the period saw the Capitals finally starting to play the game, keeping sustained pressure on the Penguin’s net, challenging the Pittsburgh forwards with backchecking, and passing with a measure of accuracy. But the Penguins were already playing strong, and their team defense kept the Caps from getting any serious scoring chances.
The Caps never gave up; neither did their fans. Though the crowd had been critical of the Capitals’ play during the early periods, when it came down to the end, the hometown fans were on their feet, chanting, “Let’s go, Caps.”
The Penguins, on the other hand, played excellent hockey from the opening face-off. The Penguins out-skated the Caps, checked hard when they needed to, and more than anything played as a team, working as a unit on defense as well as offense, supporting Mark-Andre Fleurry in their end and passing accurately in the Caps’ zone.
The Penguins worked for the win; had Washington showed un in top form, it is still doubtful they could have handled the Penguins.
Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby, who gave his team two goals to help seal the series, had this to say after the game: “I can’t describe the ups and downs of the series; they way both teams fell behind, the way we battled back … It was a battle all the way. It’s good to be on the winning side.”
