My Thoughts (May 5)

          Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to pull off a victory against the Washington Capitals at Consol Energy Center in game 4 of their best of 7 series, putting the Capitals on the brink of elimination. Even without their best defenseman Kris Letang, who was serving a suspension, the Penguins found a way to win.

            The Capitals got off to a quick start when Jay Beagle backhanded a shot into the top corner of the net off of a Tom Wilson shoot-in at 2:58. The Penguins evened the scoring when defenseman Trevor Daley’s shot somehow found its way into the net at 9:16. The 1^st period ended with a 1-1 tie, which was to be expected in this hard-fought series between the best teams in the east.

           

            Matt Cullen broke the tie when he snuck a shot under Holtby’s pad to give the Penguins the lead at 3:07 of the 2^nd period. However, as the period progressed, Washington started winning puck battles and spent most of their time in the Penguins zone. All their hard work finally paid off when John Carlson put a shot past Murray’s glove at 16:19 to even the game at 2. This was, I thought, the Capitals most productive shift, as they held the puck in the Penguins zone for over a minute.

            Though the 3^rd period was scoreless, both teams exchanged chances to take the lead, but the goaltending was solid, keeping the game tied. The stalemate would require overtime to determine a winner. Early in the overtime period, the Penguins got some puck luck when Patric Hornqvist scored five-hole on Holtby at 2:34 after a lucky bounce off of Capital defenseman Mike Weber’s stick.

            Though the Penguins now lead the series 3-1, the series has been evenly matched. I still believe this series has the potential to go 7 games. The main determining factor of who wins this series, I feel, is whether or not rookie goaltender Matt Murray will continue to play the way he has so far. And will the star players from both teams show up? That’s another question of mine. Only time will tell who the better team is. The series continues with game 5 at Verizon Center on Saturday.