Game Photos: 12/2/2011 Pens @ Caps

The Pens ended a long drought with their first regular season, regulation win over the Caps in over three and a half years in a mostly dominating performance that saw them clamp down in the final minutes to hold on to the 2-1 victory.

Check out our photos and video after the jump.

Knitting Lady and I entered the game with a .500 record in Verizon Center, having seen the Pens go 4-4-2 in our 10 trips there together.

Since our seats were just a few rows behind Fleury's net, I thought it might be cool to head down to the glass to get a close-up view of the warm-up and show some support for the visiting team. As Cy (@Malkamania71) likes to say, "Let 'em know you're there". So I grabbed a couple of poster-sized photoshops and did just that.

This idea turned out to be total madness. I've watched the warm-up from the glass before, but never directly behind the net. This video doesn't fully capture the experience, but every puck shot off the glass two inches from my face is still echoing in my head several hours later. Haha, live and learn.

But I didn't let it phase me. I was down there with a job to do, and I tried to do it.

James Neal continues to lead the league in odd facial expressions.

New guy.

A "new to us" guy, as this was our first chance to get a look at Robert Bortuzzo.

Caps fans. They were who we thought they were.

Anthem. Caps fans do this weird thing. Even though they have TVs all over with the American Flag on them, the fans turn to face the one closest to them.

Craig Adams drew first blood with a tally early in the first period.

As expected, Arron Asham had to answer the bell to atone for his misdeeds following a knockout win over Jay Beagle in the October 13 game. The results met with the approval of players and fans alike. Nice moment at the end when Asham gives Erskine the old "hey, nice fight" slap on the leg.

Eight minutes in and still no shots on goal for the Caps.

You know how I love shots of the bench.

At some point in the second period the Caps tied the game. The Pens got it back in the third, taking the 2-1 lead on the goal by Kunitz.

Clutch timeout by Byslma on a late icing.

The Pens put it on lockdown in the final minutes. In fact, the Caps would pick up only two shots on goal in the third period. The 3 Stars selection left everyone scratching their heads a bit.

We'll be back in January when the Pens return to Verizon Center, but for now we're off to Raleigh for a Saturday night meeting with the Canes. More photos after that one.