Capitals Pound Penguins, Flames Edge Coyotes

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Published on November 17 2016 6:30 am
Last Updated on November 17 2016 6:31 am

By ESPN

Determined to get out of their recent funk and motivated to measure up to the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals took out their frustrations in a 7-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

The score was indicative of just how lopsided the game was as the Capitals got two goals and three assists from Nicklas Backstrom and two goals and two assists from T.J. Oshie. They scored short-handed, at even strength and on the power play and skated the Penguins out of the building in the rivals' second meeting of the season.

"We played really quick tonight, we got on their D-men," said Backstrom, who tied his career high with five points. "We were hungry out there and we won battles and obviously we scored on our chances, too. That's huge."

Washington had lost two in a row and three of four and didn't look at all like a team that lost in overtime Tuesday night at Columbus. Alex Ovechkin ended his four-game point drought with his eighth goal of the season, and Dmitry Orlov and Justin Williams also scored.

Ovechkin got a scare when he was taken down by Kris Letang in the second period, leaving the ice briefly before returning a few minutes later. He said his arm went numb but that he was healthy enough to come back and contribute to the blowout.


Flames 2, Coyotes 1

Stopped twice on dangerous chances earlier, Michael Frolik wasn't about to let Mike Smith deny him a third time.

Frolik scored 49 seconds into overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night.

Frolik stole the puck from Brad Richardson after a faceoff in the Flames' end and skated in at top speed and ripped a shot inside the post on Coyotes goalie Mike Smith for his team-leading sixth of the season.

"I saw a little bit more space outside to maybe go to the backhand," Frolik said, "but last second I saw a guy coming across so I just tried to shoot it glove side and it went in."

After a scoreless first period, Frolik had a great chance in the opening minute of the second but Smith jabbed out a pad to deny him from in close. Five minutes later, Smith throw up his glove and stabbed his snap shot from 20 feet out.

"Sometimes it's frustrating when you have chances like that and it doesn't go in," Frolik said. "But I just try not to think about it and just keep going and try to do a little better on the next shot."


Wednesday, November 16 Scoreboard

Washington 7, Pittsburgh 1

Calgary 2, Arizona 1 (OT)


Thursday, November 17 Schedule (All Times Central)

Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 6 p.m.

Winnipeg at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

Florida at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Nashville at Ottawa, 6:30 p.m.

San Jose at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Boston at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Colorado at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Arizona at Vancouver, 9 p.m.

New Jersey at Anaheim, 9 p.m.

Edmonton at Los Angeles, 9:30 p.m.


Friday, November 18 Schedule (All Times Central)

Pittsburgh at New York Islanders, 6 p.m.

Detroit at Washington, 6 p.m.

New York Rangers at Columbus, 6 p.m.

Montreal at Carolina, 6:30 p.m.

Chicago at Calgary, 8 p.m.


Saturday, November 19 Schedule (All Times Central)

Tampa Bay at Philadelphia, noon

New Jersey at Los Angeles, 3 p.m.

Winnipeg at Boston, 6 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 6 p.m.

Toronto at Montreal, 6 p.m.

Florida at Ottawa, 6 p.m.

Edmonton at Dallas, 6 p.m.

Nashville at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Colorado at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

San Jose at Arizona, 7 p.m.

Chicago at Vancouver, 9 p.m.


Sunday, November 20  Schedule (All Times Central)

Columbus at Washington, 11:30 a.m.

Florida at New York Rangers, 4 p.m.

Winnipeg at Carolina, 4 p.m.

Calgary at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.

Los Angeles at Anaheim, 7 p.m.