Penguins vs. Capitals: Game 2 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NHL Playoffs

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have made it a series. Eric Fehr's game-winning goal with four minutes, 28 seconds left gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals in Game 2 of their second-round series at the Verizon Center on Saturday, and the teams head to Pittsburgh tied at a game apiece.

Fehr's winner broke a 1-1 tie after Capitals winger Marcus Johansson knotted the game earlier in the third period. Pittsburgh outshot Washington 35-24, and the Penguins tweeted this out after the big win:

After only 10 saves following two periods, Penguins goalie Matt Murray finished with 23 stops. Andy Glockner of The Cauldron thinks consistency from that area can make the Penguins a problem:

Much like in Game 1, the Penguins were the aggressor when they had the puck. Pittsburgh had outshot Washington 14-5 after the first 20 minutes.

Pittsburgh got its shots but failed to produce any second chances at the net, per Bill West of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Just over four minutes into the game, the Penguins went on the power play for the first time after an interference call on Brooks Orpik. The Capitals were fortunate it was only a two-minute penalty called on the former Pittsburgh defenseman.

It appeared he landed a late shot to the head of Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta.

The reaction to Orpik’s penalty seemed to be unanimous:

Pittsburgh was unable to capitalize on that power play despite firing three shots, and it was another strong showing by the Capitals' penalty-killing unit, per Zac Boyer of the Washington Times:

It took nearly a period-and-a-half before either team got on the board. The Penguins struck first on a goal from Carl Hagelin, thanks to a behind-the-net pass from Nick Bonino with 12 minutes, 52 seconds left in period No. 2.

By the time Capitals goalie Braden Holtby, who had 33 saves on the night, reacted, the puck was in the back of the net.

The Capitals had their chances but couldn't capitalize. Jason Chimera had one of those opportunities midway through the second period, but the puck hit the far post and bounced back into play. In live action, it looked like the game's equalizer, as it did to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post:

Another chance at a tying goal came late in the second period. A scrum in front of the Pittsburgh net saw the puck go to Nate Schmidt. His shot found the back of the net, but Evgeny Kuznetsov was called for goalie interference after falling down and obstructing Murray's view.

The penalty was called right as the puck crossed the line, and a chorus of boos rang inside the Verizon Center, per Jill Sorenson of CSN Mid-Atlantic:

There were some, like Alan May of CSN Washington, who believed it was Murray who caused the interference:

The Capitals didn't record a shot on goal in the second period until the 5:13 mark. That wouldn't be the case in the third period. Johansson scored the equalizer on Washington's power play, the team's 11th shot of the period, to tie the contest at a goal apiece.

The puck was loose near the bottom of Murray's skate, and Johansson gave it a slight touch to tie the game.

After firing a combined 10 shots through two periods, the Capitals had nine shots through 13 minutes of the third period. They were relentless attacking the net and looked to find a crack in the armor of Pittsburgh's defense.

But the Penguins created the ultimate response. After back-to-back tough saves from Murray, Fehr redirected a pass from Evgeni Malkin and found the back of the net for the winning goal.

Colin Dunlap from 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh went into the pun bank for his reaction:

Washington spent the last two minutes on an empty-net attack, but to no avail. Murray capped off that stint with a stellar glove save with 13 seconds left to maintain the one-goal victory.

This was nothing like Game 1. T.J. Oshie did not have a hat trick and Alex Ovechkin was held quiet with only three shots. Holtby played well, but Pittsburgh's attack was constant for all 60 minutes. It put enough pressure on Holtby to get past him twice and secure momentum.

Pittsburgh has shown it can get the puck past Holtby with five goals through two games. Ovechkin is going to have to be more active on offense if the Capitals want to respond with a Game 3 victory. The Penguins played a complete game Saturday and are sure to return to their home crowd with reason to believe they can knock off the best team in the league.

Postgame Reaction

Despite having a quiet Game 2, Penguins star Sidney Crosby was pleased with the way his team rebounded after a crushing overtime loss in Game 1.

"If you have that ability, you give yourself a chance every night to win. ... You've got to bounce back, and we've done a good job of that all year," Crosby said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "Hopefully, we continue to."

Fehr has scored many goals before, but the magnitude of this one is greater than any other he's scored.

"It does feel a little bit different" Fehr said, per the AP. "Obviously, I had a lot of years here."

The result could have been much different had that second-period goal from the Capitals not been called off due to goalie interference. Capitals head coach Barry Trotz was more so annoyed by the latter, per Khurshudyan:

The Capitals' captain was short and simple with his team's performance.

"Didn't play how we want to play," Ovechkin said, per the AP.