WASHINGTON, D.C. – All he needs is a sliver of time.
Twelve seconds into the second period of a scoreless and evenly waged Game 1 — a clear stage and an empty spotlight for someone, anyone to step into — Sidney Crosby whipped a one-timer past Braden Holtby to put the despised champions on the board.
Fifty-two ticks later, Crosby struck again, pouncing on a rebound, one knee to the ice, like the scene from a Washington Capital’s night terror.
“The first two minutes of the second—that’s what went wrong,” swallowed Capitals coach Barry Trotz after a bitter 3-2 loss.
The Pittsburgh Penguins–Washington Capitals series isn’t really about Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, all the players and coaches argue. Then the puck drops, Crosby blasts two, Ovechkin zings one of his own.
It totally is about these guys.
“They’re both driven. I don’t think they’re driven by the other guy’s success or whatever. I think they’re just driven athletes. That’s why they’re in the top 100 in the history of this league. They’re the faces of both franchises,” Trotz said.
“They’re special athletes, both those guys, and they look for those big moments and they capitalize on those big moments.”
Only a couple hours earlier, Wayne Gretzky—who’s employed by the same team as probable Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid—hopped on Hockey Central and reasserted that, yes, Crosby is the best player in the world.
He showed why in less than a minute’s time.
“That’s how it goes sometimes. You don’t get some for a while and then they come in bunches,” Crosby said.
“There wasn’t a lot of chances to be had out there, so we just played patient and we were fortunate to get the first couple.”
Said rookie linemate Jake Guentzel, an NHL finalist for Luckiest Man Alive: “When you’re playing with a player like that, all you’ve got to do is kind of get him the puck and watch him do his thing.”
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Watching Crosby do his thing was David Letterman, who attended this rollicking series opener with a gloriously unkempt playoff beard.
The retired talk-show legend could’ve written a top 10 list of reasons the Capitals should have won. He may have started with a rammed house that waved bright-red, glow-in-the-dark freebie wands, clanged cowbells saved from a Round 1 giveaway, and chanted “Let’s go, Caps!” at every turn, helping rally the club to tie the game at two.
Even when Nick Bonino — “a high-stakes player,” admired coach Mike Sullivan — took a stretch pass and beat Holtby on a breakaway for the winner, the home crowd stayed loud.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever cheered so desperately for anything the way Capitals fans cheer for their team with the goalie pulled and time running out.
Trotz’s troops outhit the visitors 41-17, outshot them 35-21, and out-attempted them by a lopsided margin of 82-41. Hell, the Capitals even had fewer giveaways (six to Pittsburgh’s 11).
But they did turn the puck over in the neutral zone off that second-period faceoff. Sullivan cut the Evgeni Malkin line’s following shift short after a dump-in to push Crosby back on the ice, and that poof of magic was all Pittsburgh needed to thief one.
Well, that plus 29 blocked shots and a batten-the-hatches, hold-on-for-dear-life third period by huffing and puffing Marc-Andre Fleury.
Oh, and complete avoidance of the Capitals’ dangerous power play.
A distinct “Ref, you suck!” chant thundered through Verizon Center after Capitals defenceman Matt Niskanan was given a slashing penalty for whacking at a puck that had just been swallowed by Fleury’s glove. This after multiple infractions went whistle-free.
Niskanen gave a “no comment” and a death glare when asked about the officiating. Trotz was a little slicker, perhaps trying to plant a you-owe-us-one seed with the officials for Saturday’s Game 2.
“I thought there was plenty of opportunity at least to give us one [power play]. We attempted 80 shots. There’s a lot of junk around the net,” the coach said.
Ovechkin’s take?
“No penalties against their side,” he noted. “Sometimes s— happens. You just have to fight through it and put it back in.”
The Capitals are maintaining belief through disappointment, and have good reason. Evgeny Kuznetsov, who raised a knee Karate Kid–style and flapped like a joyful pelican when he tied it up, said the Capitals’ feet are faster.
To his credit, Holtby owned responsibility for the Bonino winner and Crosby’s first one.
“I thought I got there in plenty of time and Sid does that slapshot that kind of flicks his toe at the end and it goes the opposite way. I just didn’t keep my glove in the right position,” the goalie said. “It’s one that I’m capable of stopping and will next time.”
Considering how few good looks Crosby needs to seize a game, he better.