s not to be. This was Montreals second game in two nights against the Hurricanes. | Forum

WASHINGTON -- The NHL wanted to provide plenty of Sidney Crosby vs. http:///...ce-1-lunar-azul.html . Alex Ovechkin by moving the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals into the same division. The league couldnt separate them again fast enough for the Capitals given the Penguins recent domination. Pittsburgh beat Washington 4-0 on Wednesday night at Verizon Center, the fifth straight victory in the series, to maintain first place in the Metropolitan Division. Barring a sudden and unexpected change of structure, the Capitals would love to start finding answers as to why the Penguins have their number. "Based off tonight we know we have some work to do in order to rebound our next game against them," Washington goaltender Braden Holtby said. "We feel we have the players in here that are capable of beating them. Its just a matter of putting together a 60-minute game where were all on the same page and doing things we need to do to win." Instead, the Penguins did just about everything necessary to blow Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals out of their own building. They jumped out to a strong start, got two points apiece from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and a shutout from lightly tested goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 18 saves. "I think this was as complete a game as we played," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "We came out and pushed the pace, the speed of the game. ... The second half of the game was a team effort: how we played the game, managed the puck and shut them down." Bylsma used the word "smothering" to describe his teams all-around defensive effort. The Penguins outshot the Capitals 40-18 overall and perhaps more importantly 34-10 at even strength. Washington at one point had a 9:22 shot drought and midway through the game put more pucks on net short-handed than five-on-five. Thats not typically a path to success, and Capitals coach Adam Oates blamed an overall lack of execution. "Obviously you have to give them some credit, they played a very good hockey game," Oates said. "We got behind early and (its a) tough team to catch up (against), and they didnt give us anything." Getting ahead and clamping down was something the Penguins took a great deal of pride in. Crosby, who passed St. Louis Blues forward Alex Steen to take sole possession of the NHL points lead with a power-play goal and an assist, pointed to the strong start as something that set the tone for the whole night. That Pittsburgh (14-8-0) started well was not a surprise, but they had something tangible to show for it when defenceman Paul Martin beat Holtby with a seemingly-harmless shot from the blue-line just 6:38 into the game. Rookie Beau Bennett made it 2-0 a few minutes later, and the Penguins went into the first intermission with a 17-6 shot advantage despite the Capitals spending over four minutes on the power play. "I dont know if we expect to hop out to that kind of shot advantage, but certainly the pace and how we played was excellent," Bylsma said. "We got some real good scoring opportunities." The Capitals got some of their own in what Crosby called a "50/50" second period. The teams traded chances back and forth, like when Fleury stopped a driving Ovechkin and Holtby, who finished with 36 saves, denied Crosby from point-blank range soon after. But when Washington couldnt break through, the Penguins made the best of a late second-period power play. Malkin controlled the puck along the boards before setting into motion quick passes from Chris Kunitz to James Neal to Crosby, who scored from an almost-impossible angle at the side of the net. "Its high execution, its great movement, set up there to start by Geno," Bylsma said. "Its a sharp, sharp angle, but its an awesome power-play goal." By the time Neal made it 4-0 in the third period, the Penguins were well on their way to locking things down and building a three-point lead atop the Metropolitan Division. It was the kind of loss the Capitals want to just throw out after winning seven of 10 going into Wednesday night. "That was a pretty ugly game, and it might just be one of those ones that we need to forget," defenceman Karl Alzner said. "The only reason wed watch (the tape) maybe is to look and see how bad we were." Plenty was built into this game, with first place on the line. It was the first time the Penguins and Capitals were facing each other as division rivals since 1993. Fleury, who recorded his 25th career shutout and second this season, took more joy in holding on to first than beating the Capitals. "Its always a good rivalry with them, but the thing we have to focus on is the win," he said. During their five-game winning streak against Washington, the Penguins have scored 21 goals to the Capitals nine. Theyve also won the past five games Crosby has played in dating to 2011. Worried about now, Oates was less concerned about the standings than about what the loss felt like. "Its more of a measuring stick," he said. "Youre playing against your rival, its a big game and thats part of being a pro. Hopefully it deflates you right because you know its a deflating feeling in there right now." NOTES -- Malkins career-worst goal drought reached 15 games, but he finished with two assists to make it 19 on the season. ... Washington defenceman Mike Green missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. He could return Friday when the Capitals host the Montreal Canadiens. ... The Capitals power play, which entered the game ranked second in the league, went 0 for 3. http:///...amarillo-s83398.html . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. http://www.baratassuperstar.com/air-force-one-espana.html . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. http:///...-1-lunar-blanco.html . PETERSBURG, Fla.MONTREAL -- Carey Price feels that the Montreal Canadiens are really starting to jell. Price made 24 saves in the Canadiens 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Still, the veteran goaltender likes what he sees from Montreal so far this pre-season. "Its coming along," said Price. "The guys are getting a little more comfortable with each other. Weve been working quite a bit. "Its all positive." It was Prices first full pre-season game. He played well despite taking the loss and felt more confident as the game wore on. "I felt a little bit on my heels at first. Started to settle in probably later on in the second period," said Price. "I started handling the puck better." But by then it was too late; the Canadiens were already down 3-0, and they would only find a late consolation goal. Montreal was repeatedly frustrated by Anton Khudobins superb play in Carolinas net. Khudobin, who played 14 games with Boston last year and is slated to become the Hurricanes backup goalie this year, stopped 41 of 42 shots. "We did this result all together as a team," said Khudobin. "But that many shots and one goal is pretty good too." Hurricanes head coach -- and former Canadiens assistant coach -- Kirk Muller was impressed by his goalie. "Were just getting to know him and obviously were excited to bring him into the organization," said Mullerr. http:///...-oro-652845-770.html. "The nice thing is he has a lot of structure to his game and hes a real competitor. Hes been a great addition so far. "We actually feel weve got a pretty strong one-two punch with our goalies." Carolina opened the scoring at the end of the first period when Drayson Bowman fired home his first goal of the pre-season. Price misplayed a clearance behind his net, leaving the puck for Eric Staal, who passed it to a wide-open Bowman. Price blamed the goal on an unlucky bounce off the boards, and miscommunication with defenceman Andrei Markov. Jeff Skinner added to the Hurricanes lead early in the second -- the eventual game-winner -- and Carolina put the contest out of reach at the end of the period when Nathan Gerbe fired a shot past Price on the power play. It was the Habs fourth penalty of the period. Rookie Michael Bournival, whos Montreals leading scorer this pre-season, scored the Canadiens only goal late in the third period. Montreal outshot Carolina 42-27 on the heels of a dominant third period. But it was not to be. This was Montreals second game in two nights against the Hurricanes. The Habs beat Carolina 6-0 in a lopsided match in Quebec City on Friday. The Hurricanes, who have played four pre-season games in as many nights, showed no sign of fatigue after Fridays game. The Canadiens next game is on Monday when they host the New Jersey Devils. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '