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Penguins revisit 2017 script to defeat Capitals |
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Anybody else get a 2017 vibe from the Penguins and Capitals game yesterday? I know I did. The Washington Capitals were the better team, but the Penguins relied on some contributions from depth players and a really good goaltending performance
Not a single Penguins player was on the positive side of the shot attempt differential
The Capitals finished the game out attempting the Penguins 60-26 at 5v5. It was Matt Murray saving the day with 30 out of 33 saves. It is only a .906 save percentage, but he was under siege in the third period. The Capitals could have easily potted a few more goals given their territorial advantage. Murray still has a ways to go to get back to playing at a quality level. The Penguins have won seven out of his last eight starts. Murray stopped 225 out of 248 shots in those starts (.907). Things are trending better. Still some room for improvement.
The Penguins certainly had opportunities to pull away even if they were getting creamed at times during 5v5. They had six power play opportunities. They scored on none of them. The Penguins are currently 14th in the league at 19.9%. They still have enough talent to run a quality power play although they haven’t had the luxury of having all the talent available at times this year because of injury. I’ll never be a fan of Crosby and/or Malkin being on the left circle or left point. They seem to filter those players through that side more than in the past. They don’t have a right handed player to play on the circle they feel comfortable with. There was no backup plan after trading Phil Kessel away. I’m not saying the power play can’t be great without Kessel, I’m saying they never attempted to replace Phil’s role.
The Penguins don’t play again until Thursday when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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