Pittsburgh Penguins Beat Washington Capitals 6-2 in Game 7 of 2009 NHL Playoffs

In a battle between two of the best hockey players in the world today, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals 6-2 in Game Seven to advance to the Conference Finals. What was supposed to be a classic between the Caps and the Pens, quickly turned into a blowout as Pittsburgh scored five unanswered goals in the first two periods and had a 5-1 lead after two periods. Crosby scored the first goal on the power play for the Penguins midway through the first period and only 8 seconds later, the Penguins added another one to take a 2-0 lead after one period. Bill Guerin, Kris Letang, and Jordan Staal all scored in the second period for the Penguins. After the fourth goal was allowed, Simeon Varlamov, the Capitals goaltender, was pulled for the backup. Ovechkin scored for the Capitals in the closing minutes of the second period. Crosby scored again two minutes into the third period, again on the power play to grow the margin to five. Washington scored a meaningless goal in the middle of the third period and the Penguins won 6-2. Sidney Crosby was the star of the game with two goals and an assist.

Crosby and Ovechkin both put on a show this series. Crosby had six goals and four assists in this series, including a hat trick in Game 2. Crosby has twelve goals and eight assists in these playoffs, for a total of twenty points. Ovechkin did one better, scoring seven goals and six assists in this series, including his own hat trick also in Game 2. For the entire playoffs, Ovechkin finished with eleven goals and ten assists, for a total of twenty-one points.

The Capitals won Games One and Two, by one goal each, to take a 2-0 series lead. The Penguins won Games Three, Four, and Five, to regain the 3-2 series lead. Two of the three Pittsburgh wins were in overtime. Game Six was tied at two goals apiece after two periods. It was tied again at four after three periods. In overtime, Washington got a lucky deflection that went in the net and they tied the series at 3-3. All six games of this series had been close and five of the six games have been decided by one goal. The other game was decided by two goals. Game Seven was the only blowout of the series as the Penguins won by four goals.

The Pittsburgh Penguins next face the winner of the Boston Bruins vs. Carolina Hurricanes series. The Penguins are one series win away from returning to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second consecutive year. Pittsburgh lost to the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.