Kasperi Kapanen pushes Penguins past Capitals

As has often been the case for the past decade and a half, Friday’s game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals was broadcast nationally.

Presuming your definition of “nationally” is exclusive to subscribers of a premium streaming service that requires paying a roughly $7 fee monthly to an international media conglomerate.

Were you fortunate enough to view the 238th all-time meeting between these enduring rivals, you saw a thoroughly disciplined Penguins team stymie the aggressive Capitals, 4-2, at Capital One Arena in Washington.

Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen, who earlier in the week described his recent play as “terrible,” looked awfully good Friday. Promoted to the team’s top line, he scored the winning goal and displayed a dynamic form that has been all too infrequent throughout this career.

“Obviously, the way I’ve been playing hasn’t been my best,” Kapanen said to media in Washington. “It was important that I get back on track. It’s pretty easy to do that with (linemates Sidney Crosby and Evan Rodrigues). Throughout the game, we were getting a lot of chances and playing well.”

Scoring first has been a good indicator of the Penguins’ chances of winning this season. They did that Friday and improved to 12-1-0 this season under those circumstances.

They took the game’s first lead 16 minutes, 16 seconds into regulation.

Setting a puck at the left point of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Danton Heinen danced around Capitals forward Connor McMichael and made his way to the high slot before sliding a forehand pass to the right circle for Penguins defenseman John Marino.

Allowing the ice to open up for a moment, Marino slipped the puck back to Heinen, now below the hash marks, and Heinen one-touched a forehand shot past the blocker of goaltender Ilya Samsonov for his eighth goal.

Forward Jeff Carter provided an effective screen on the sequence by barging to the net along with Capitals defenseman John Carlson. Marino and defenseman Mike Matheson had assists.

They made it a 2-0 score at 8:37 of the second period with a little bit of luck.

After Penguins forward Teddy Blueger won a draw in the Capitals’ left circle, Matheson controlled the puck at the left point and fed it up the wall for Penguins forward Brock McGinn. As Blueger drove the net and dragged Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov with him, McGinn chucked a wrister towards the cage. The puck glanced off Kuznetsov’s right skate and hopped over Samsonov’s left leg.

McGinn was credited with his sixth goal off assists from Matheson and forward Zach Aston-Reese.

“(I) had Teddy going to the net there,” McGinn said. “If you put pucks to the net, sometimes good things happen. That was just the case there.”

Like many previous Penguins-Capitals meetings, things got a bit contentious. At 10:43 of the second period, McGinn’s left shoulder struck the head of Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary in the Penguins’ zone.

Fehervary left the contest and did not return. McGinn was not penalized for the hit.

Aside from acknowledging Fehervary was injured, the Capitals did not provide an update after the game. There was no word on any potential supplemental discipline.

“I think he was just kind of trying to chip the puck and go by me,” McGinn said. “But I think I stayed in my lane, and we just kind of made contact. I don’t think I was dirty at all.”

Kapanen collected his sixth goal at 11:42 of the second.

After a neutral zone turnover by ex-Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz, Rodrigues claimed the puck then gained the offensive blue line on the right wing.

Slowing down a bit, Rodrigues fed a pass to Crosby above the right circle. With Capitals forward Tom Wilson bearing down, Crosby backhanded a pass to the left circle for Kapanen, who whipped a far-side wrister past Samsonov’s glove. Assists went to Crosby and Rodrigues.

The Capitals broke up the shutout bid at 7:33 of the third period. After blocking a slap shot attempt by Penguins defenseman Kris Letang at the right point of the Capitals’ zone, ex-Penguins forward Daniel Sprong sprung a stretch pass up the near boards for Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin.

Gaining the Penguins’ blue line, Ovechkin drew in Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin and centered the puck to the slot for Kuznetsov. With Letang trailing on the sequence, Kuznetsov attacked on a breakaway and tucked a slick backhander past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s left skate for his ninth goal. Ovechkin and Sprong collected assists.

It became a 3-2 score at 17:14 of the third period. When Crosby iced the puck after shooting at an empty net, Capitals forward Lars Eller won the ensuing faceoff in the Penguins’ left circle. Ex-Penguins forward Conor Sheary fended off Dumoulin for the puck and fed a small pass to Ovechkin on the left wall.

From the left corner, Ovechkin dished the puck back into the left circle for Eller, who pumped a wrister that toasted Jarry’s glove on the far side and clunked off the post before deflecting into the net for his third goal. Ovechkin and Sheary tallied assists.

Any notion of a comeback was stamped out 53 seconds later when Carter scored his eighth goal on an empty net. Crosby and Jarry had assists.

Jarry made 29 saves on 31 shots to boost his record to 12-5-4.

As for Kapanen, Friday’s game provided a terribly needed boost for him.

“Whenever you have a good game, it’s always going to give you confidence,” Kapanen said. “Scoring a goal never hurts, too. Hopefully, the future looks as good as it was tonight.”

Note: Penguins forward Jason Zucker was in the lineup after being absent from practice for the previous two days for what was termed as “maintenance” purposes. … Penguins forward Jake Guentzel was scratched because of an undisclosed injury, and defenseman Mark Friedman and forward Sam Lafferty were healthy scratches. … Jarry’s assist was the eighth point of his career (all assists) and moved him past Wendell Young (seven) for third place among the Penguins’ career leaders in points among goaltenders. Only Tom Barrasso (31) and Marc-Andre Fleury (14) have more.