Capitals-Penguins: Game Five

Penguins 4, Capitals 3
Penguins lead best of seven series, three games to two with game six in Pittsburgh Monday night.

Caps had the early 2 games to 0 series lead but the Penguins have won the last three games. Two of which were in overtime.

Now I've personally seen nine Caps playoff overtime games (4 wins and 5 losses). The last three Caps playoff overtimes I've seen in person are as follows:

4/15/03 vs Tampa Bay, game three. Vincent Lecavalier scores a power play goal to give the Lightning a 4-3 win. This was a five on three advantage for Tampa Bay, the first time there was a playoff five on three advantage in 77 years.

4/22/08 vs Philadelphia, game seven. Joffrey Lupul scores a power play goal to win the game 3-2 and series 4 games to 3 for the Flyers.

5/9/09 vs Pittsburgh, game five. Evgeni Malkin scores a power play goal to give the Penguins a 4-3 win.

So the Caps head to game six in Pittsburgh now 1-7 in overtime against the Penguins, 0-8 all time in game five's against Pittsburgh and if the Caps lose Monday they will be 1-7 all time in playoff series against Pittsburgh.

The beat goes on.

My seat was in section 405, Row B for the game but got to the arena early and was in the first row VIP seating for warm ups. One day I will have to purchase a ticket there and experience a game behind the plexiglass. As usual click on the picture for a larger image.

Caps goalie of the future Simeon Varlamov.


Nicklas Backstrom gives the Caps a 2-1 lead!


Bill Guerin with the shot for the Penguins.


Matt Cooke's goal for the Penguins. Just wish I got the puck in the picture.


Alex Ovechkin scores the tying goal. Unfortunately I didn't get Alex in the picture but you can see the puck going past the goalie.


Overtime starts.


Caps David Steckel misses in OT.


After the Penguins win. I was too busy following their power play, hoping the Caps would stop the Penguins and missed the game winning goal.


As you can see, people in attendance threw things on the ice afterwards. It's really sad folks have to resort to this behavior after a great game.

Articles about the game from The Washington Post:

Game Story

A Bitter Night for Youngest Capitals

Happy Mother's and Grandma's Day!

We're a day early but here is our official kick back on a Saturday morning photo to Mom and Grandma!

More Mini Soccer!

Been writing a lot about the Caps lately so here are a few pictures from Benjamin's most recent mini soccer outing. He's with a group of a dozen kids in the Under 3 group. They base your group on what your age was this past August (He turned three in October) I won't post pictures of the other kids without permission, so here are some solo shots of Benjamin. He's starting to develop some skills. So far, so good.

His instructor is from the Darryl Gee Soccer Academy and Benjamin is always listening to him while drills are being explained. This has been a fun way for him to learn the game and we're pleased he's interested. More pictures to come later in the program.

Caps take a 2-0 series lead!

With back to back one goal victories over the Penguins (3-2 and 4-3), the Capitals have taken a 2 games to 0 lead in their best of seven series. The series shifts to Pittsburgh for games three and four.

Alex Ovechkin broke a 2-2 tie with two goals in the third period to put the Caps ahead 4-2. Great players rise to the occasion and Ovie just took over by scoring his first playoff hat trick. The Penguins fought hard in the end and Sidney Crosby scored with :30 left for his hat trick to make it a one goal game. But the Caps held on for the win 4-3.

Tonight the Caps just hung in there. They were missing a key defenseman (John Erskine out with a sore right leg). They came back from two one-goal deficits before Ovechkin took over. Simeon Varlamov won his fifth straight playoff game in goal. He came up big down the stretch when the Caps needed him to. He finished with 33 saves.



Still a long, long way to go in this series for the Caps but I'm very, very excited for this team right now.

Caps vs Pens: NHL Playoffs, 2nd Round

CAPS
Regular Season Record: 50-24-8 (108 points)
Finish: Southeast Division champions, No. 2 seed in Eastern Conference
Playoffs Round 1: Down 1-3 in series, rallied to beat NY Rangers in seven games

PENS
Regular Season Record: 45-28-9 (99 points)
Finish: Second in Atlantic Division, No. 4 seed in Eastern Conference
Playoffs Round 1: Defeated Philadelphia Flyers in six games.

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: at Washington Saturday, May 2, 1:00PM (NBC)
Game 2: at Washington Monday, May 4, 7:00 PM (Versus)
Game 3: at Pittsburgh Wednesday, May 6, 7:00 PM (Versus)
Game 4: at Pittsburgh Friday, May 8, 7:00 PM (CSN, Versus)
Game 5: at Washington* Saturday, May 9, 7:00 PM (CSN, Versus)
Game 6: at Pittsburgh* Monday, May 11, TBD (CSN, Versus)
Game 7: at Washington* Wednesday, May 13, 7:00 PM (CSN, Versus)
* if neccesary

SEASON SERIES
3/8/09 Penguins 4, Capitals 3, (Shoot-out)
Sidney Crosby: 1 goal, 1 assist and scored in the shootout to give Pittsburgh the win.

2/22/09 Capitals 5, Penguins 2
Alexander Semin and Alex Ovechkin each scored and Washington dominated Pittsburgh

1/14/09 Capitals 6, Penguins 3
Alex Ovechkin: 2 goals, 1 assist

10/16/08 Capitals 4, Penguins 3
Alexander Semin, Michael Nylander and Boyd Gordon each scored in 12 minutes span in the third period to give the Caps the win.

PAST PLAYOFF RESULTS
1991: Pittsburgh 4 games to 1
1992: Pittsburgh 4 games to 3
1994: Washington 4 games to 2
1995: Pittsburgh 4 games to 3
1996: Pittsburgh 4 games to 2
2000: Pittsburgh 4 games to 1
2001: Pittsburgh 4 games to 2