In a tied game, third period, on home ice, the Pittsburgh Penguins seemed more interested in retribution at times, after Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin caught Kris Letang with a wicked slash that wasn’t called.
What eventually happened, as the Penguins lost their cool and took a parade to the penalty box?
The Capitals took the lead, as Joel Ward scored on a beautiful passing play with less than five minutes remaining in the third period. They’d go on to defeat the rival Penguins by a final score of 3-1, and now possess the league’s second-best power play at 23.6 per cent after Tuesday.
Ovechkin scored his league-leading 37th goal of the season in the first period. Two of Washington’s goals came on the power play, which would certainly illustrate the need for a more disciplined effort from Pittsburgh, especially in such a tight game, even if it did get chippy.
“I’m not blaming the refs or the Capitals. I think it’s on us. You can be mad over a call. You can be disappointed. But you can’t let it get to your game,” said Pittsburgh defenseman Rob Scuderi, as per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
“I like the fact that we responded and didn’t take a lot of crap from them.
“But at the same time, we have to know the line to toe.”