Penguins Demolish Capitals
Fired up by the opposing coach's bravado, the Pittsburgh Penguins handed the Washington Capitals their worst playoff loss in franchise history.
The Penguins scored on three of their first four shots - two on power plays and a third skating 4-on-4 - as European speed and finesse dominated North American brute Thursday night in a 7-0 Game 1 victory in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The victory came two days after Washington coach Ron Wilson, commenting on the unusual schedule for the series, said he would be willing to play all seven games in Pittsburgh and his team would "go in there and beat 'em anyway."
That didn't sit well in Steel Country.
"It was up on the bulletin board," right wing Matthew Barnaby said. "It definitely made us angry. You want to be taken seriously."
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"That was about the most embarrassing effort of the season," right wing Terry Yake said. "We got outplayed in every aspect of the game. They outchecked us, they outplayed us in the power-play, penalty-kill. I don't know how many 2-on-1s, 2-on-0s, 3-on-2s they had."
Janne Laukkanen, Robert Lang and Martin Straka scored in the first period, and Jiri Slegr, Jan Hrdina and Tyler Wright scored in the second. Laukkanen got his second goal in the third period for the Penguins, who finally won a Game 1 against the Capitals. Pittsburgh has won four of five playoff series against Washington over the last decade, but the Caps won the opener each time.
The seven-goal deficit was the biggest in 138 postseason games for the Capitals. They've lost by six goals three times, including a 7-1 loss to Pittsburgh in 1995.
The Penguins finished one goal shy of matching their biggest playoff victory, an 8-0 rout of Minnesota in 1991.
"One game doesn't a series make," coach Herb Brooks said. "But it's a good start."
Under the quirky schedule, the seventh-seeded Penguins take the 1-0 series lead home for the next two games, Saturday and Monday. Usually the higher seed gets the first two games at home, but the unavailability of Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena for several days next week prompted the NHL to put the second-seeded Capitals at home for Games 1, 4, 5 and 7.
"We just lost home ice," Wilson said. "And we've got our work cut out for us. We're going to have to go in there and get at least a split if not a sweep or we're going to be in serious trouble."
Washington captain Adam Oates said his team would "have be awake for Game 1" because of the schedule, but the Capitals didn't follow a single plank of their series strategy.
The Caps wanted to physically punish and wear down the speedier and flashier Penguins without taking unnecessary penalties as they did when they allowed three power-play goals in a 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh on March 30. The Caps also wanted to pack the slot and grind out goals on counterattacks and rebounds. They did neither.
Defenseman Ken Klee had an awful night. His first error was a scuffle he started behind the net that led to coincidental minors for roughing. That put the Penguins in their element, skating 4-on-4. When Peter Bondra strayed too deep in Pittsburgh's zone, the Penguins had a 2-on-1 break that ended with Laukkanen's big drive through goalie Olaf Kolzig at 2:30.
Klee also contributed to the second Penguins goal. After skating himself out of position on a 2-on-2, Klee dislodged the net and was whistled for delay of game. Ten seconds later, Jagr slid a crisp pass to a wide-open Lang in fron of the crease for the easy power-play goal at 6:34.
Straka stuffed in the puck on a power play at 11:26 to make it 3-0. Slegr got another four-aside goal at 3:00 of the second period. Hrdina placed a brilliant shot between Zettler's legs into the corner of the net during yet another four-on-four at 12:03. Wright scored a 2-on-none break at 13:32, the only goal to be scored with the teams skating 5-on-5.
Laukkanen stuffed in a rebound on a 5-on-3 power play just 33 seconds into the final period. By then, Kolzig had been mercifully pulled for Craig Billington.
Ron Tugnutt made 32 saves for the shutout, but the credit goes to the Pittsburgh defense. Most of Tugnutt's stops weren't clean, but the Penguins were able to clear the puck because there was rarely a Capitals player in front of the crease.
"We were really antsy, maybe with a little too much excitement, too much rambunctiousness," Yake said. "We allowed ourselves to get out of control and took some bad penalties. We were too excited tonight."
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