Eastern Conference Leading Capitals Whip Up On Some Team

image stolen from The Washington Post

Last season was a pretty successful one in Pittsburgh. And though it wasn't a bad season in DC, the hoisting of a certain trophy may have been done by players clad in a more reddish hue last June had Game 7 of the Caps/Pens turned out differently.

Not that it was close to turning out differently. Ovechkin could've added a hat trick and the Caps still would've lost. And been outplayed. And been embarrassed in their own building. Still, taking the eventual Stanley Cup champs to a Game 7 was an accomplishment, even if it didn't seem like it at the time.

Since that day the NHL schedule makers deemed the two teams should just stare at each other from opposite sides of Maryland. Until last night, when the two rivals met for the first time since the Faux Pas At The Phone Booth last May (chronicled with curse words aplenty here). To say there was hype was an understatement. But both teams handled the media scrum with aplomb.

Then they did the same with each other through two periods, after which the score stood at 3-3. From there, the Caps shook the Penguins off like a dog shaking off muddy water, scoringf three goals in the third (one was an empty netter) to cock-block the Penguins, 6-3. That's a sentence you won't read in the Washington Post. (Crosby is a bitch. There's another.)

In all the jubilation, I think some context is important. This wasn't a season defining victory, nor was it the clinching win that sends a team hurdling into the playoffs. What it was was a good win against a good opponent on the road. That's all.

As was pointed out to me, the Caps have now beaten last season's Stanley Cup Finals participants consecutively. They lead the Eastern Conference by three points over the Devils and Sabres. They are seven points ahead of Pittsburgh with two games in hand.

Last night's win in Pittsburgh was a nice reminder that the Caps can not only play with those guys, they can whip up on them too. But that's all. The success or failure of the 2009-10 season for the Capitals won't be decided in January. Its always good to beat Pittsburgh, but the Caps have other, if not bigger, fish to fry.

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