How the Washington Capitals scored their goals against the Penguins this season

It’s nearing the end of the April, so you know what that means — that’s right, Penguins and Capitals, Round 3....which of course does not mean the third round of the playoffs, because the Capitals have not made it past the second round since 1998.

We’ve got Penguins and Capitals in the second round of the playoffs for the third year in a row. Will this year be any different for the rivals from Washington? I personally doubt it, but we will see.

As preparation for what to expect from the Capitals in the coming series, I looked back at the goals the Capitals scored against the Penguins this season during their 4 games they played.

In the four games, the teams split wins with 2 each, and the Capitals scored 12 goals (plus one empty net goal).

10 even strength goals compared to 2 power play goals may seem a little different than normal, considering how potent the Capitals power play can be.

Things of note here:

• zero power play goals for Alexander Ovechkin
• only two power play goals, none from the left side
• three Ovechkin goals at even strength, all from close range

You can never suggest that the Penguins have the Capitals PP figured out, but it looks like the PK unit contained them better than in the past and the big key here is to keep the big Russian contained in front of the net. Have yourself a series, Brian Dumoulin.