*Photo from the Morganton News Herald*
The older guys are still doing pretty well. Evgeni Malkin had 4 assists, Sidney Crosby scored twice, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals with a 4-0 shutout victory on Friday night in Washington.
Crosby and Malkin, the old guard in Pittsburgh, showed they've still got it as they spoiled the Capitals season opener with their first win of the season. Crosby had two goals while Malkin had a goal and 3 assists. Jake Guentzel contributed two assists as well.
Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said that "I don’t want to say a better effort, I just thought we played smarter tonight. Just our play without the puck was a little bit more conscientious certainly than it was in Game 1, and I think that gives our guys an opportunity to act on the talent that we have. So, we played hard tonight, but we also played smart."
After a scoreless first period, the Penguins got things started in the second period. Malkin got the scoring underway 4:07 into the second, scoring his first goal of the season. On the power play at the 5:51 mark of the second, Crosby scored his second goal of the season, doubling the lead to 2-0 with Guentzel and Malkin assisting.
With another power play chance at the 11:46 mark of the second period, Crosby scored his second goal of the night and 3rd of the season, making it 3-0 Penguins with Malkin and Guentzel assisting. The only goal of the 3rd period came from Reilly Smith, who scored his first goal as a Penguin to make it 4-0, with the lone assist going to Malkin.
Crosby said after the game that "Home opener, you know they're going to start pretty hard. I thought we did a good job of just weathering that. When ‘Geno’ got that first goal, it just kind of gave us a good boost. And then to follow it up with some power plays and see those go in, I think we just gained momentum from that."
Making his second start of the season for the Penguins was Tristan Jarry, who played well in net to improve to 1-1-0 on the season. Jarry stopped all 19 shots that the Capitals sent at him, recording the shutout to get his first win of the year.
Starting opposite Jarry was Charlie Lindgren of the Capitals, getting the start to open the year after Darcy Kuemper left the team due to the birth of his child. Lindgren saved 31 of the 35 shots he saw from the Penguins, good for a .886 save percentage in the opening night loss.
Washington head coach Spencer Carbery said of the shutout loss that "It’s the worst-scripted start we possibly could have had in terms of just being disappointed, home ice. Trying to generate some momentum from a season standpoint, and that certainly did not happen."
The Penguins play the second half of a back to back on Saturday, with Alex Nedeljkovic to get the start against the Calgary Flames. The Capitals play the Flames next as well, playing them on Sunday with Kuemper the projected starter.
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