It seemed to be the same old same old in Washington DC on Friday night as the Penguins quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. They forechecked hard, drove the net, and found open space. Defenseman Erik Karlsson got the Penguins started and then followed it up with an absolute beauty of a pass to winger Michael Bunting and all of a sudden, it was 2-0 Penguins.
But disaster struck per usual, as the Capitals were not going to go down without a fight. Just a minute and 23 seconds after Bunting made it 2-0, Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin beat Penguins goaltender Joel Blomqvist up high, and it was quickly a 2-1 game.
The Penguins were fortunate to get out of the first period up 2-1, but fast forward early second period as Capitals wingers Jakub Vrana and Andrew Mangiapane went in on a 2-on-1 and converted due to Karlsson allowing the pass to get through to Mangiapane. It was a 2-2 game and Penguins fans knew where this was going.
The Penguins and Capitals went into the third period tied at 2 goals apiece and suddenly it was anyone's game. Head coach Mike Sullivan actually decided to change up his second line, because the one he was using of OConnor-Eller-Rust was not working, and he went with Bunting-Malkin-Rust and it sparked some offense.
In the middle of the third period, center Evgeni Malkin cashed in as he put home a rebound from Rust and the Penguins were ahead 3-2 and it looked like they would finally beat a playoff team from last year, for the first time all-season.
The Penguins did just that as winger Noel Acciari found the empty net with 23 seconds left on the clock and they left Capital One Arena with a much-needed victory after they got trounced by the Carolina Hurricanes the night before.
