Recap: Pittsburgh Penguins advance after winning Game 7 vs. Capitals
The Pittsburgh Penguins have eliminated the Washington Capitals after a 2-0 win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Bryan Rust opened the scoring at the 8:49 mark of the second period after a Jake Guentzel pass found him open in the slot. Sidney Crosby provided the secondary assist on the play. This would stand to be the only goal of the period.
The Penguins kept on rolling as they potted another goal just over four minutes into the third period. Pittsburgh defensemen, Justin Schultz came up clutch as he kept in a Washington clearing attempt that was then redirected to teammate Patric Hornqvist in the Capitals zone. Even with multiple Washington players checking him, Hornqvist was able to fire off a backhand shot that extended the lead to two.
Despite outshooting the Penguins and winning 61% of the faceoffs, the Capitals were unable to get any offense going. The loss ultimately adds to the playoff woes for the franchise. Even with multiple Presidents Trophy wins for best regular season team, they have never advanced to the Conference Finals in the Alexander Ovechkin era.
Side note: Since entering the league in the 2005-06 season, Crosby and Ovechkin have only met in the playoffs on three occasions (2009, 2016 & 2017). Each series has ended with a Pittsburgh victory.
Video Credit (via SPORTSNET.ca)
