Capitals Falls To Penguins, 4-2; Rasmus Sandin And Andrew Mangiapane Score


Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2, Friday night at Capital One Arena in the District. The loss drops the Capitals record to 9-4-0 on the season.

The Penguins jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Erik Karlsson gave the Penguins the first lead of the night just over three minutes into the game and Michael Bunting made it 2-0 seven minutes into the contest. The Capitals finally got on the board with Rasmus Sandin’s first goal of the season for a 2-1 score at the first intermission.

The Capitals tied the game early in the middle frame on Andrew Mangiapane’s fourth goal of the season. The score would remain the same for the second intermission.

The Penguins retook the lead midway through the third period on Evgeni Malkin’s fifth goal of the season, making it 3-2. The Penguins would add an empty net goal for the 4-2 final.

LINEUP

Charlie Lindgren (3-3-0, 2.70 GAA, .896 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Joel Blomqvist (2-4-0, 3.47 GAA, .908 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Penguins. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane – Hendrix Lapierre – Jakub Vrana
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh

Martin Fehervary – John Carslon
Rasmus Sandin – Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

Scratches: Dylan McIlrath, Sonny Milano (injury) and Jakob Chychrun (injury).

1ST PERIOD

The Penguins opened the scoring in the early going with a tally from Erik Karlsson (2) at 3:11 of the first period. E. Malkin (13) and S. Crosby (10) had the helpers.

Michael Bunting (2) made it 2-0 just after a fruitless Capitals power play at 6:59. E. Karlsson (8) had the lone helper.

The Capitals notched their first tally on Rasmus Sandin’s first goal of the season at 8:22. Connor McMichael (6) had the lone helper.

That was it for the first period. The Penguins led in five-on-five shot attempts, 15-9, and expected goals for, 0.71 to 0.43.

2ND PERIOD

The Capitals tied the game on a beautiful dish from Jakub Vrana to Andrew Mangiapane (4) at 6:04. Vrana (3) Hendrix Lapierre (2) had the assists.

And that was it for the second stanza. There were plenty of scoring opportunities for both sides, but the goaltenders stepped up. The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts, 32-24, 2.16 to 1.04.

3RD PERIOD

The Penguins regained the lead midway through the final frame. Evgeni Malkin (5) notched the go ahead tally at 10:31.

The Penguins added an empty netter for the 4-2 final.

SHAVINGS

  • Rasmus Sandin scores his first goal of the season to cut the deficit to 2-1. All six of Sandin’s points this season (1g, 5a) have come in the last eight games.
  • Connor McMichael tallied his sixth assist of the season on Sandin’s goal. McMichael, who is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the team lead in goals (8), has registered six points in his last six games (5g, 1a).
  • Andrew Mangiapane scored his fourth goal of the season to tie the game 2-2. The Capitals have scored 19 goals in the second period this season, tied for fourth most in the NHL.
  • Hendrix Lapierre tallied his second assist of the season on Mangiapane’s goal. Lapierre has now recorded a point in four-straight games against Pittsburgh dating back to last season (1g-3a-4p).

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.





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