Penguins still searching for the 'on' switch
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Standing behind forwards Matt Cooke, left, Alexi Ponikarovsky, center and Tyler Kennedy, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma calls a timeout during the third period of Tuesday's game against the Capitalsat Mellon Arena.
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There's an implicit guarantee that comes with having Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and a 200-foot sheet of ice in the same building on the same night, so it's all but superfluous to point out that both Tuesday night's assembly at Mellon Arena and a highly engaged Versus audience had every right to expect something special.
This, then, was a clear violation of their hockey rights.
I guess that with Ovechkin's Washington Capitals motivated only to avoid a sharp stick in the eye and Crosby's Penguins charged only with the vague urgency of not finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference the result was that the special Tuesday night was served lukewarm and significantly under-spiced.
Hockey history might have been made had the Capitals been able to sustain an early burst of offense in which they sprayed three shots at Marc-Andre Fleury in the game's first 69 seconds, but Penguins fans might not have appreciated the opportunity to say they were there the night Washington outshot Pittsburgh, 156-0.
Similarly, no special feeling washed over the audience during the handful of shifts Craig Adams skated with Crosby, as Adams hasn't scored since the Jonas Brothers were in preschool.
Furthermore, even as they led by a goal after one period and by two after two, the Capitals exuded a unique indifference. With home-ice advantage for as long as they don't melt in the postseason already assured, for example, they rested standout defenseman Mike Green and, earlier in the day, called up Jay Beagle from the Hershey Bears.
Or was it Jay Bear from the Hershey Beagles?
No matter; the Capitals again twitch-slapped the Penguins, 6-3, this time, meaning Ovechkin's team swept the four-game season series, a possibility-turned-reality the Penguins had agreed in advance and by consensus was not terribly important.
And they'll stick to that story until it is terribly important.
"It's disappointing, but we've got to look forward, look at our mistakes and learn from them," said Penguins center Jordan Staal, a minus-2 in 211/2 frustrating minutes.
Staal was, for the record, one of the minority in the room who felt that going 0 for 10 against New Jersey and Washington this season could have lasting deleterious effects. The Penguins' abstract ability to flip the switch, as it were, once the playoffs start, did not become any less of a topic as a result of this encounter.
First Published April 7, 2010 12:00 am
