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NHL Betting Info. 5/2
Preview: Capitals (56-18) at Penguins (48-26)
Date: May 02, 2016 8:00 PM EDT
A heady effort from a short-handed defense corps allowed the Pittsburgh Penguins to grab home-ice advantage away from the Washington Capitals.
The Penguins, though, likely won't have one of their top D-men in Olli Maatta as they look to move ahead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series Monday night in Pittsburgh.
The Capitals might be missing one of their top defensemen as well, with Brooks Orpik facing a possible suspension for his hit on Maatta.
Pittsburgh couldn't stop T.J. Oshie from recording a hat trick in a 4-3 overtime loss Thursday, but bounced back by stifling nearly all of the Capitals' roster in a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Saturday. The Penguins allowed the one goal while short-handed during Washington's 14-shot third period, paving the way for Eric Fehr to score the winner against his former team with 4:28 to go.
Pittsburgh limited the Capitals to 10 shots over the first two periods despite losing Maatta less than five minutes into the game. Orpik knocked his former teammate out with a high hit.
"I thought it was a late hit," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought it was a target to his head. I think it's the type of hit that everyone in hockey is trying to remove from the game. That's how I saw it."
Unsurprisingly, Washington coach Barry Trotz didn't.
'(Orpik) just finished on a hit,' Trotz said. 'There's a little size difference, and I think Maatta was leaning over a little bit. We'll let the league handle it.'
Orpik had a hearing with the NHL's department of player safety Sunday.
The Penguins are looking for their third win in four home games in these playoffs and fourth in five overall matchups against Washington.
Pittsburgh began that stretch with a 6-2 rout March 20 that ended a three-game home losing streak against the Capitals. Marc-Andre Fleury was in net for the Penguins in that game but is expected to remain out due to a concussion, likely giving 21-year-old rookie Matt Murray a sixth consecutive start.
Murray is 4-1-0 with a 1.74 goals-against average in that stretch.
"I thought Matt was real solid (in Game 2). It was a challenging game in that he didn't see a lot of shots early then in the third period obviously they pressed and he saw significantly some more action," Sullivan said. "I thought his focus was really good. When we needed him to be good down the stretch, he made that timely save for us."
Washington will try to give Braden Holtby a better chance to win by stifling Pittsburgh's prodigious shot production. The Penguins have a combined 80 shots on net in the two games and had another 38 blocked.
That's resulted in Holtby allowing five goals to Pittsburgh after giving up five in his six games against Philadelphia in the opening round. The Penguins would have had more if the Capitals hadn't denied them on all five power-play chances Saturday, moving them to 30 of 31 on the penalty kill this postseason.
"We know we can play better. We have had periods but not 60-minute games. We can't give a team like that as much time and space," Holtby said. "It will be a good thing to get on the road and play a more simple style. It seems like the road kind of does that to you. It will be good for us."
Phil Kessel and Patric Hornqvist have scored each of their three goals in this postseason in the Penguins' three home games. Kessel and Sidney Crosby both have a team-high five points in those contests.
Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has one assist in his last seven games against the Penguins, including playoffs, and two points in his last five in Pittsburgh. Nicklas Backstrom has no points in his last four matchups.
"The ultimate goal is to win and we all have that in mind," Crosby told the NHL's official website. "We know taking that hit or taking that punch is going to go a long way."
Date: May 02, 2016 8:00 PM EDT
A heady effort from a short-handed defense corps allowed the Pittsburgh Penguins to grab home-ice advantage away from the Washington Capitals.
The Penguins, though, likely won't have one of their top D-men in Olli Maatta as they look to move ahead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series Monday night in Pittsburgh.
The Capitals might be missing one of their top defensemen as well, with Brooks Orpik facing a possible suspension for his hit on Maatta.
Pittsburgh couldn't stop T.J. Oshie from recording a hat trick in a 4-3 overtime loss Thursday, but bounced back by stifling nearly all of the Capitals' roster in a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Saturday. The Penguins allowed the one goal while short-handed during Washington's 14-shot third period, paving the way for Eric Fehr to score the winner against his former team with 4:28 to go.
Pittsburgh limited the Capitals to 10 shots over the first two periods despite losing Maatta less than five minutes into the game. Orpik knocked his former teammate out with a high hit.
"I thought it was a late hit," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought it was a target to his head. I think it's the type of hit that everyone in hockey is trying to remove from the game. That's how I saw it."
Unsurprisingly, Washington coach Barry Trotz didn't.
'(Orpik) just finished on a hit,' Trotz said. 'There's a little size difference, and I think Maatta was leaning over a little bit. We'll let the league handle it.'
Orpik had a hearing with the NHL's department of player safety Sunday.
The Penguins are looking for their third win in four home games in these playoffs and fourth in five overall matchups against Washington.
Pittsburgh began that stretch with a 6-2 rout March 20 that ended a three-game home losing streak against the Capitals. Marc-Andre Fleury was in net for the Penguins in that game but is expected to remain out due to a concussion, likely giving 21-year-old rookie Matt Murray a sixth consecutive start.
Murray is 4-1-0 with a 1.74 goals-against average in that stretch.
"I thought Matt was real solid (in Game 2). It was a challenging game in that he didn't see a lot of shots early then in the third period obviously they pressed and he saw significantly some more action," Sullivan said. "I thought his focus was really good. When we needed him to be good down the stretch, he made that timely save for us."
Washington will try to give Braden Holtby a better chance to win by stifling Pittsburgh's prodigious shot production. The Penguins have a combined 80 shots on net in the two games and had another 38 blocked.
That's resulted in Holtby allowing five goals to Pittsburgh after giving up five in his six games against Philadelphia in the opening round. The Penguins would have had more if the Capitals hadn't denied them on all five power-play chances Saturday, moving them to 30 of 31 on the penalty kill this postseason.
"We know we can play better. We have had periods but not 60-minute games. We can't give a team like that as much time and space," Holtby said. "It will be a good thing to get on the road and play a more simple style. It seems like the road kind of does that to you. It will be good for us."
Phil Kessel and Patric Hornqvist have scored each of their three goals in this postseason in the Penguins' three home games. Kessel and Sidney Crosby both have a team-high five points in those contests.
Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has one assist in his last seven games against the Penguins, including playoffs, and two points in his last five in Pittsburgh. Nicklas Backstrom has no points in his last four matchups.
"The ultimate goal is to win and we all have that in mind," Crosby told the NHL's official website. "We know taking that hit or taking that punch is going to go a long way."
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