Penguins beat Capitals, snap 7-game skid despite rash of injuries on defense

Having lost seven consecutive games entering Wednesday’s road game against the rival Washington Capitals, the Pittsburgh Penguins changed their blue line considerably before the puck dropped.

Once the contest began, they changed it again.

And again.

Then, once again.

Because they had to.

Despite losing three defensemen at one point, the Penguins gutted out a hard-fought 4-1 road win at Washington’s Capital One Arena that halted the worst losing streak the franchise had seen since February of 2006 during captain Sidney Crosby’s rookie season.

The triumph extracted a heavy toll on their back end, however.

Rookie P.O Joseph did not record a shift after 4:16 of the second period while Jan Rutta left the game at 14:40 of the second after taking two shifts following a thunderous check by Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan did not provide a substantive update on their statuses when speaking with media in Washington beyond acknowledging they had suffered undisclosed injuries.

Their absences were amplified temporarily in the third period when defenseman Jeff Petry missed a handful of shifts after appearing to injure his left knee while trying to deliver a check against Capitals forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel at 4:01 of the final frame.

His temporary departure prompted Penguins forward Jeff Carter to serve as a defenseman at one point.

“The four guys that had to play the rest of the game did a terrific job,” Sullivan said to media in Washington. “That’s not an easy task. They did a tremendous job just keeping the game simple, managing the game appropriately. And I thought our forwards did a pretty good job helping them.”

Following a scoreless first period, the Penguins erupted for three goals in the second period to take a lead they would never surrender.

The second line struck first 7:43 into the second period. Pulling a puck off the Capitals’ end boards, Penguins forward Jason Zucker backpedaled a bit to the right corner and chucked it to the crease into the equipment of goaltender Darcy Kuemper. Unsure of the puck’s location, Kuemper slid to his right and inadvertently pushed it into the cage with his left leg. Zucker was credited with his third goal of the season off an assist from linemate Evgeni Malkin.

A short-handed score supplied the Penguins with a two-goal lead at 12:53 of the second period. Under pressure from forechecking Penguins forward Brock McGinn, Capitals defenseman Erik Gustafsson flung a sloppy backhand pass from his own left half wall to the near blue line, only to have it intercepted by Carter. After a determined effort to keep the puck onside, Carter fed a forehand pass to the slot for McGinn, who went backhand to forehand before firing a pedestrian wrister on net. Kuemper got a piece of the puck but allowed it to slide across the goal line for McGinn’s second goal. The only assist went to Carter, who was back in the lineup after missing three games due to an undisclosed injury.

Petry’s second goal of the season at the 15:05 mark put the Penguins up by a field goal. Maneuvering out of the left circle of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby dealt a pass to center point for Petry. Surveying for a shooting lane, Petry chopped a slapper that beat Kuemper’s glove. Penguins forward Bryan Rust supplied an effective screen on the sequence. Crosby and linemate Jake Guentzel had assists.

Capitals forward Marcus Johansson broke up the Penguins’ shutout bid with his fourth goal at 12:22 of the third period. After Carter beat former Erie Otters forward Dylan Strome on a faceoff in the Penguins’ right circle, Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin attempted to clear the puck out of the defensive zone, but the puck was intercepted by Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen at the right point. Keeping the puck onside, Jensen banked the puck to the end boards for Capitals forward Sonny Milano. Fending off Petry, Milano was able to deal a pass to the slot. Surging past Dumoulin, Johansson shuffled a forehand shot through goaltender Casey DeSmith’s five hole. Assists went to Milano and Jensen.

Given the history between these two rivals, this contest had no shortage of of combative moments. Things boiled over at 13:48 of the third period when former Penguins forward Conor Sheary slammed Penguins rookie forward Filip Hallander from behind, sending him spiraling to the ice. Sheary was assessed a minor penalty for a check to the head. Hallander was able to finish the contest.

Victory was secured at 18:24 of the final period when Guentzel scored his seventh goal on an empty net off assists from defenseman Kris Letang and Marcus Pettersson.

DeSmith, who got the start somewhat surprisingly instead of All-Star Tristan Jarry, made 24 saves on 25 shots to earn his first victory of the season (1-3-1).

Notes:

• Hallander made his season debut two days after being recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Logging 11:01 of ice time on 16 shifts, Hallander blocked three shots. He also clocked 3:13 of short-handed ice time, third-most on the team.

• The Penguins’ beleaguered penalty kill was 4 for 4 in this contest. After going 3 for 3 in a 3-2 home loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, the Penguins have prevented an opposing power-play goal in consecutive games for the first time this season.

• Rust recorded his first fighting major at any level of professional hockey (according to Hockey Fights) when he battled with Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk at 13:31 of the third period.

Considering neither player appeared to throw a punch, once could argue the definition of “fight” is being stretched when applied to this interaction.

• This was also the Penguins’ first fighting major of the season.

• Penguins forwards Kasperi Kapanen, Sam Poulin and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel were healthy scratches.

• While the Penguins lost players at his game went on, the Capitals were missing some major pieces going into the game. The absence of forwards Nicklas Backstrom, Connor Brown, Carl Hagelin, Beck Malenstyn, T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson as well as defensemen John Carlson and Dmitri Orlov combine for a salary cap hit of $40,329,167 per Cap Friendly.

• Capitals defenseman Alexander Alexeyev made his NHL debut.

• Milano appeared in his 200th career game.

• Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary appeared in his 100th career game.

Follow the Penguins all season long.