Capitals-Penguins: Lesser Lights Shine for Washington and Pittsburgh

How well do you know the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals?

Granted, there's Alexander Ovechkin who shows emotion every shift and is always proving his love for the game, there's Sidney Crosby who's being touted as the "Next One", and there's an ever-growing list of talented young hockey players on these rosters, ranging from Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom, to Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin.

But after that, there are some solid players on these teams who are overshadowed by the seemingly endless supply of young phenoms.

If you tuned in Sunday afternoon, then you may have noticed some contributions coming from other places.

Yes Crosby got two goals, Ovechkin got two assists, and Staal and Malkin hooked up for an empty-net goal at the very end of the game to seal a 4-2 Penguin victory, but what about Brooks Laich, Quintin Laing, and Petr Sykora?

For Washington, I was thoroughly impressed with both Laing and Laich. For every Ovechkin, Semin, and Backstrom a team needs guys like these—players who will come in, ruffle a few feathers, block shots, kill penalties, and excel at being an overall pest.

Yes, Laich was playing in front of the net on a Washington power play without a helmet, but it's more than that that grabbed my attention. Despite the unfortunate bounce the puck took off of his stick on the first goal of the game (by Sykora), he was skating hard to both ends of the ice, throwing hits, and working on opening up space for his teammates.

Because of his strong play as of late (10 points in 10 games), Laich has seen time on the power-play, and in this afternoon's game it paid dividends on both Washington goals.

On the first, he was in there, causing a ruckus without his helmet, and was eventually rewarded for his trouble as the puck ricocheted off of him for the game's first goal. But on the second goal, he set up shop right in the same place, and as the puck came to Alexander Semin at the side of the net, Laich prevented Kris Letang from getting across the crease to Semin, providing Washington with their second goal. Not bad for a guy that was once traded for Peter Bondra eh?

On top of that, former Chicago Blackhawk farmhand Quintin Laing is from the same mould, which could be the reason that Pierre McGuire got them mixed up on this afternoon's broadcast.

The young man from Rosetown, Saskatchewan spent some time on the penalty-kill, as he worked to get in the shooting and passing lanes, and helped keep the puck to the perimeter. Although Laing had the lowest average shift of the game (0:33 per shift) he seemed to make every second count, driving himself to shine in whatever role he's given.

Now over on Pittsburgh's bench is Petr Sykora—a guy who's captured a Stanley Cup title, as well as seen a few extended runs in the NHL playoffs. Granted he's been in the NHL a long time, but he always seems to be overshadowed on deep teams.

Sykora worked to step up this season in Sydney Crosby's absence, tallying 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) in the 21 games that  'Sid the Kid' missed with that ankle sprain.

Even with Crosby back in his third game since his injury this afternoon Sykora looked good, skating end-to-end, battling for loose pucks, spreading the defense, and creating chances.

Although on a team as loaded with talent as Pittsburgh Sykora may be forgotten, come playoff time his 88 career playoff and 59 playoff points could be one of the key's to helping this Penguins team make it through the Eastern Conference.

As for the Capitals, if Laich and Laing can keep up this pace, they'll offer a solid supporting cast to Ovechkin and Co. for years to come.

And if somehow the Caps make the playoffs this season, then these are the kinds of guys that get you through a playoff series on sheer guts.

As the old saying goes, "No guts, no glory". 

Something tells me that the Capitals won't have to worry about that.