Pittsburgh-Washington: Pens Destroy Ovechkin and Caps

The Pittsburgh Penguins finished one of the best series in the NHL playoffs this year by routing the Washington Capitals 6-2.

Even though I am a Pittsburgh fan, I am let down by the lack of any excitement or drama during the game. When Kris Letang scored his goal, he had a cheeky smile and put his hands in the air for a short while, before skating over to the bench.

After the Penguins went up 4-0, it looked as if the Caps had watched Alex Ovechkin die on the ice. They were slow to every puck, started to slash and hook instead of skating hard, and played like a team that didn't care.

I don't know what Dan Bylsma said to the Penguins before the game, but it lit a fire under Sidney Crosby and Co. Crosby opened the scoring on a powerplay, corralling the puck with his skate and tapping it past a helpless Simeon Varlamov. 

The Pens quickly struck again off the face off, with Craig Adams scoring off a 16-foot wrist shot.

Not comfortable with a two goal lead, the Pens scored three in the second to increase their lead to 5-0.

Alex Ovechkin scored late in the second period to pull the Caps within four. Pittsburgh would eventually go on to win by four goals.

The four-goal lead in the second period was the largest lead of the series until the Pens made it 5-0.

A great example of how poorly the Capitals were playing was the last goal scored by the Penguins. Sidney Crosby stole the puck from Alexander Ovechkin and skated across the Caps blue line all by himself. He proceeded to deke Simeon Varlamov's replacement, Jose Theodore, out of his skin and put the puck between Theodore's legs.

This game may have provided the outcome I was hoping for, but it was not a fun game to watch. The Caps were nonexistent, and I almost felt sorry for them watching their season unfold before them.

Almost.