Caps Dominate First Match with Penguins, What Next?

Last Thursday the Capitals marched into Pittsburgh and dominated in every aspect winning 6-3. The Capitals were clearly in control from start to finish. Despite a fluke goal let in early by Jose Theodore, he outplayed former Capital Brent Johnson in net, Alex Ovechkin outscored rival Sidney Crosby 2-1, the Caps killed all four of Pittsburgh's power plays and scored on both of their own. It was a great all around effort.

This was a huge win for the Caps coming not just against the defending Stanley Cup champions in their own home, but also against their rivals. What does this game mean? Well, it depends. After the embarrassing game 7 loss in the playoffs last season, the Caps really needed to respond against the hated Penguins the first chance they got. It's great for the team's confidence not just in the regular season, but going forward. The Eastern conference may well come down to another Washington/Pittsburgh matchup and the Caps will need games like this to help them forget last season.

It is also important to keep this game in perspective. Most teams look at matchups against defending champions as a benchmark for their own chances, so let's analyze this game. The Penguins were without top netminder Marc Andre Fleury who has a broken finger. Johnson played admirably and the Caps have put up big numbers against Fleury, but you have to believe his return to the lineup would give Pittsburgh a boost. While all three of the Caps goaltenders have have played really well this season, a rotating trio isn't a good playoff setup. Pittsburgh will have an advantage in net if someone doesn't establish himself as the top (and healthy) netminder. More importantly, the Penguins are a proven playoff team. The Caps won 3 out of 4 games against the Penguins last season in much the same fashion. Yet, after game 3 in the playoffs the Caps really struggled to put their rivals away. Including the post season the Caps started 5-1 against Pittsburgh and finished the season 1-4. The Caps struggled in the first round as well going down 1-3 to a much weaker New York team before storming back to a game 7 win. Playoff experience counts for a lot. The Penguins have more of it and it shows in April and May.

What this all means is that we don't know what it means. The Caps have the talent and skill to beat any team in the league which they showed on Thursday and almost every night in the regular season. With growing experience and maturity this team is building itself up for a playoff run, but the Caps need big wins over their rivals in May as well as January.