Steelers couldn't finish in New Orleans and now might be finished

By Jeremy Fowler
http://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/
December 23, 2018



New Orleans Saints outside linebacker Demario Davis (56) recovers a fumble by Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (19) to seal the victory during the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints at the Superdome on Sunday, December 23, 2018. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

NEW ORLEANS -- The football -- and possibly the Pittsburgh Steelers' playoff hopes -- bounced off of the Mercedes‐Benz Superdome turf.

JuJu Smith-Schuster's fumble in the open field with 32 seconds left sealed the New Orleans Saints' 31-28 win that knocked Pittsburgh a half-game behind the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North standings.

It was a devastating play for a receiver who has been tremendous all season.

But devastating losses and plays have one of the league's most talented teams sitting at 8-6-1, thanks to three December losses by three points. The Steelers were driving into scoring range when linebacker Demario Davis recovered the ball at the New Orleans 35-yard line.

"For it to come down like this every week, it sucks," said Smith-Schuster, who finished with 115 yards on 11 catches but was clearly dejected in the locker room, sitting in his uniform well after many teammates had showered.

The Steelers knew their playoff hopes hinged largely on what happened in New Orleans, and on Sunday, they played like it. They were desperate, inspired, bold, exciting.

They weren't perfect, though. That's about what it took to beat the Saints in the Mercedes‐Benz Superdome.

In arguably their gutsiest performance of the season, a wild game from start to finish, the Steelers couldn't overcome a handful of mistakes against a team this good.

The Steelers would be dangerous in these playoffs. But a Week 1 tie in Cleveland and a Week 14 loss in Oakland probably put their playoff hopes to bed. Now they need Baker Mayfield's magic in a Week 17 game at Baltimore to force the Ravens into relinquishing the divisional lead. The Steelers host the Cincinnati Bengals at home.

Coach Mike Tomlin's decision to fake a punt with 4:06 left backfired, and surely will be questioned. The Steelers were at their own 42 on fourth-and-5 when fullback Roosevelt Nix took the snap and bulldozed over the middle, nearly getting to the first-down mark.

Running back Stevan Ridley's fumble on the previous drive slowed the Steelers' magma-hot offense. The defense gave up a third-and-20 in the final minutes.

"You've got to give that team credit ... They made their share of plays, and we didn't quite make enough," safety Morgan Burnett said.

Added wide receiver Antonio Brown: "Can't make no excuses. Have to find a way to put ourselves in a better position."

The game won't be without controversy. In a game this close, the image of Joe Haden gently patting Alvin Kamara on the back in coverage of a first-quarter pass that neither had a chance at catching will fume Steelers fans for days. Haden's penalty, a highly questionable call at best, turned a would-be stop on fourth-and-2 into a 33-yard penalty to the Saints' 1-yard line, which Mark Ingram converted into a rushing score.

Or, there's that fourth-and-2 interference call on Haden in the final minutes that looked debatable. Haden broke up a pass but officials called him for grabbing from behind.

Haden couldn't hide his frustration after the game.

"It is what it is, man. It's an offensive game," Haden said. "You can't touch these guys."

On offense, Pittsburgh turned to the two players who have won clutch games for the team many times before -- Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger, who dazzled in the second half as Pittsburgh went to an near-all-passing attack.

Roethlisberger was near-flawless with 380 yards on 33-of-50 passing and three touchdowns, and Brown continued to spin around Marcus Lattimore for 185 yards and two touchdowns on 14 catches.

Between the second and third quarters, the Steelers' offense broke off scoring drives of 97, 75 and 66 yards with only five rushing attempts, none in the third quarter.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown hauls in a touchdown pass in front of New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore in the fourth quarter Sunday (Dec. 23) at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

In what might be his throw of the season, Roethlisberger split two defenders with a back-of-the-end-zone dart to a streaking Brown late in the third quarter.

And the game had tilted Pittsburgh's way when linebacker L.J. Fort blocked New Orleans' field goal attempt with 6:13 left to protect a 28-24 lead. The Saints were moving the ball swiftly, but Pittsburgh locked up inside the 40. The Steelers got three impressive second-half stops on one of the game's best offenses.

It wasn't enough.

And without much-needed hope and some luck in Week 17, the Steelers will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2013.

"The story's not written yet. I told the guys in there -- I said, 'Listen, it's not over yet; this chapter of the story's not done," Roethlisberger said. "Obviously we don't control it, but let's see what happens."

If these Steelers can’t beat the Saints in the Superdome, who can?

By Jeff Duncan
https://www.nola.com/saints/2018/12/if-these-steelers-cant-beat-the-saints-in-the-superdome-who-can.html
December 23, 2018


New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas (13) catches the game-winning 5-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter during the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints at the Superdome on Sunday, December 23, 2018. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

There’s nothing like being home for the holidays.

And in the NFL, there’s nothing like being home for the playoffs.

The Saints will be in New Orleans for both after their dramatic 31-28 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday (Dec. 23).

Thanks to their thrilling, heart-racing, last-minute victory, the road to Super Bowl 53 will go through the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in the NFC. And that’s ominous news for the Saints’ conference rivals.

The Saints have been the best team for most of this season. And now they’re assured of playing the rest of their games at home, where they are virtually unbeatable.

“I’m speechless,” safety Vonn Bell said. “We are going to run everything through the Dome. What a feeling.”

And what a game.

Regular-season games simply don’t get any better.

This one had it all. Star power. Big plays. Momentum swings. Late-game dramatics. Controversy. All played to the soundtrack of an incessant Superdome din.

This felt like a Super Bowl rather than Week 16 of the regular season. And when it finally ended, the Saints provided the exclamation point with an obligatory ice bath for Saints coach Sean Payton, the first one he’s experienced in years.

“These wins are something you get addicted to,” Payton said. "I’m proud of this team. Man, they showed a great resolve.”

The Steelers played desperate, like a proud team that needed a win to maintain its lead in the AFC North Division. They matched the Saints play for play and moment for moment.

The Steelers played the Saints exactly the way you have to play them to win in the hostile Superdome. They were aggressive, mentally tough and took the fight to the Saints on both sides of the ball. They blitzed Brees with abandon and attacked on offense through the air. They made huge plays on both sides of the ball, matched the Saints intensity and stood strong in the face of the withering din of the sellout home crowd.

The Steelers outgained the Saints and outplayed them for most of three quarters. Considering the circumstances, the opponent, the setting and the stakes, they played about as well as could be expected. And yet they still came up short.

That can’t be a comforting thought for the rest of the NFC. If this battle-tested Steelers team playing this well and with this much on the line can’t beat the Saints I’m not sure who can.

“We tip our caps to New Orleans,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “It was a tough-fought game. It was a tough environment. It was just not enough positive playmaking in the three phases to secure victory.”

It certainly wasn’t perfect for the Saints, who at times reverted to their early-season form in pass coverage. The communication issues and coverage breakdowns that haunted the Saints secondary earlier this season reared their head at times again Sunday. The Saints will need to straighten them out before the postseason because they won’t be facing Jameis Winston or a wounded Cam Newton once they get there.

“We felt like we could do what we wanted to do out there,” said Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who riddled the Saints for 380 passing yards and three touchdowns.

New Orleans Saints defensive end Alex Okafor (57) comes up with a fumble in the fourth quarter during the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints at the Superdome on Sunday, December 23, 2018. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

The Saints survived largely because of four plays: two Steelers fumbles in the fourth quarter and two fourth-down pass interference calls against Joe Haden. All went the Saints way. And in the end, they were just enough to pull out another dramatic hard-fought win.

The win was the Saints’ fifth this season that required a fourth-quarter comeback. It was their sixth in which they needed a game-winning drive by Brees to secure the W.

It’s not luck or coincidence when it happens this frequently.

“It shows a lot about the character of this team,” running back Mark Ingram said. “We’re battle-tested.”

The Saints played like a team motivated to secure the No. 1 overall playoff seed in the NFC for only the second time in franchise history.

While the rest of the NFC is banging their collective heads trying to survive and advance, the Saints have the advantage of resting, recuperating and refocusing for a playoff run, knowing they won’t have to play another game outdoors or outside the Deep South for the rest of this season.

For a team that has won six consecutive playoff games in New Orleans, including all five in the Payton-Drew Brees era, that’s gumbo for the soul.

“This is why you fight for that (No. 1 overall seed),” Brees said. “It’s great to have that week off, but it’s also nice to have that (No.) 1 seed and know that everybody is going to have to come to us. We like to be in that position.”

So take a break, New Orleans. Enjoy the holidays. As Aaron Rodgers once famously said: R-E-L-A-X. Breathe.

Rest your lungs. And your heart monitors.

You’re going to need both when the real playoffs begin.

Crosby, Murray too much for Canes in Pens’ 3-0 win

By Chip Alexander
https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article223482140.html
December 22, 2018



Jake Guentzel #59 and Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrate after combining on a goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second half of their game at PNC Arena on December 22, 2018 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)


RALEIGH 

There were any number of plays Saturday that summed up the Carolina Hurricanes’ scoring frustrations and offensive consternation this season.

In a 3-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Canes had:

-- Warren Foegele twice stopped on first-period breakaways by Pens goalie Matt Murray, who had 39 saves in his second shutout of the season.

-- Victor Rask looking at an open net on a power play only to have the puck hop over his stick.

-- Jordan Martinook with an open shot in the slot, only to miss the net wide right.

Then there was Dougie Hamilton. The Canes defenseman winged a first-period shot from the point. The referee signaled a goal. The goal horn came on. Canes fans cheered.

Not for long. The puck smacked the crossbar, then hit the post but never crossed the goal line. No goal.

The Pens (18-12-6), in contrast, were taking care of business. And especially center Sidney Crosby, who is very good at his hockey business.

Crosby had three assists, twice setting up Jake Guentzel for goals after first spotting Kris Letting open for a quick shot and score.

“They’re a good team and they’re going to get their chances,” Martinook said. “They’ve got three lines that can score and arguably the best player in the world who makes plays kind of when you don’t think he’s going to make them.

“It’s a game of inches. We’re an inch away on a couple of them and then we’re chasing the game a little bit.”

The Canes’ slide continued. Carolina (14-15-5) has lost five of the last six, with a game against Boston on Sunday.

It will be “Whalers Night” at PNC Arena as the Canes put on Hartford Whalers throwback jerseys. Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour will care more about putting together 60 solid minutes, or more if need be, and getting a win in the last game of a five-game homestand before the Christmas break.

The Canes could be without Jordan Staal. The center, who recently missed five games recovering from a concussion, left after the second period with an upper-body injury.

Brind’Amour said Staal “got another hit to the head” in the first period but did not know the extent of the injury. Staal delivered a hit to Pens defenseman Brian Dumoulin early in the game, and later in the period had a collision with Canes forward Andrei Svechnikov and Guentzel in front of the Pens net.

After the game, the Canes recalled center Clark Bishop and winger Janne Kuokkanen from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL.

On the Letang goal, Crosby carried the puck behind the Canes net before putting it on Letang’s stick for a 1-0 lead.

In the second period, more of the same. Crosby with the heavy lifting behind the net and perfect setup pass, Guentzel with the finish.

“They get the second one and you can kind of see our group not deflate, but everybody starts gripping it a little tighter,” Martinook said. “Our margin is so small right now that you’re down by two and right now you feel like you’re down by four. “

Crosby and Guenztel clicked again with 51 seconds left in the second, Crosby with a lead pass off the right wing. Guentzel had his 14th and 15th goals of the season, the Pens had a 3-0 lead and the Canes had no answers.

Canes goalie Curtis McElhinney, in his first start since Dec. 5, made some nice stops against Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, finishing with 29 saves. But the Pens were too precise when Crosby had the puck on his stick, breaking down the Canes in the offensive zone and taking advantage of defensive mistakes and misplays.

“Our goalies have been fine. That’s not the issue,” Brind’Amour said. “if you don’t score everything gets magnified.”

A power-play goal would have helped Carolina. The Canes had three power plays in the first two periods. None of the first three resulted in a shot on net and the Pens easily killed off a fourth penalty in the third period. 

After the 4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, Canes captain Justin Williams questioned the team’s mental toughness. There was a closed-door meeting and some serious talk.

Brind’Amour switched up the lines. Micheal Ferland went back on Sebastian Aho’s line with Teuvo Teravainen, and Andrei Svechnikov, with four goals in his past four games, played on Staal’s line with Martinook.

“Great start for us,” Brind’Amour said. “We were engaged. Unfortunately it was just like the other night. We deserved a little better in the first just based on the chances, but it didn’t happen.

“To me, the power play was terrible. That’s our best players and that’s the time they need to make plays. And zero.”

Jaccob Slavin #74 of the Carolina Hurricanes puts a shot on the crease as Matt Murray #30 of the Pittsburgh Penguins makes the save and teammate Jack Johnson #73 defends during an NHL game on December 22, 2018 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)

Murray, who has had his injury issues, stymied the Canes again, improving his career record against Carolina to 7-2-0. He’s 3-0 overall since returning from his lower-body injury.

“He’s an intelligent goaltender who reads the plays extremely well,” Pens coach Mike Sullivan said.

Murray did that Saturday. He got some help from the iron a few times -- on Hamilton’s shot, again in the third against Brock McGinn -- but earned the shutout.

12/22/18 Condensed Game: Penguins @ Hurricanes

Penguins' Kris Letang deserves more credit

By Mark Madden

https://triblive.com/sports/columnists/markmadden/14432598-74/mark-madden-penguins-kris-letang-deserves-more-credit

December 21, 2018

Sidney Crosby is the Pittsburgh Penguins’ best player and arguably (still) hockey’s best.

But if Crosby gets hurt, Evgeni Malkin is a reasonable facsimile despite his current struggles.

Kris Letang, however, is the Penguins’ least replaceable player.

Don’t babble about winning the Stanley Cup in 2017 with Letang hurt. That was then. This is now. These Penguins don’t have Ian Cole, Trevor Daley, Ron Hainsey or (for now) Justin Schultz.

Letang’s value has been evident all season. Having finally shed the residue of his 2017 neck surgery, Letang is operating like a Norris Trophy candidate (save a penchant for the rare nightmarish game). Letang is plus-7, and his 27 points rank him seventh among NHL defensemen.

Letang’s worth was on obvious display during Wednesday’s electric 2-1 victory at Washington.

The Penguins found themselves down to five defensemen when Jamie Oleksiak was concussed by a Tom Wilson punch inside the first minute. Letang played 32 minutes, 22 seconds, assisted on the Penguins’ first goal, and was plus-one.

Looking beyond stats, Letang managed the puck with ruthless efficiency, making just one giveaway. Most important, Letang was often on the ice against Washington sniper Alex Ovechkin and all but put Ovechkin in his back pocket.

It was a terrific performance and hardly an easy one.

“Obviously, we all know about (Ovechkin’s) shot,” Letang said Thursday after the Penguins beat visiting Minnesota, 2-1. “You have to take his time and space away.

“But if you can get under his skin and stay in his face … he’s a guy that brings so much energy, and he’s emotional on the ice. But sometimes that can work against you. So I try to get him off his game, but he’s still really dangerous.”

Ovechkin was hardly invisible. He had five shots on goal and six hits. But he didn’t have his usual clinical precision. Ovechkin saw his six-game goal-scoring streak and 14-game point streak both fizzle, and that was largely because of Letang.

Letang can skate with Ovechkin and hit with Ovechkin, and he’s not afraid of Ovechkin like (honestly) so many are.

Letang went nose-to-nose with Ovechkin just 4 minutes, 5 seconds into the game. Each drew a roughing penalty.

Letang is strong, but “I wouldn’t say I’m as strong as (Ovechkin). He’s 250, so he’s got 50 pounds on me. But I like the physical game.”

The day belonged to the Penguins, and ended with Ovechkin breaking his stick over the boards. Crosby-Ovechkin is the marquee matchup, but Letang-Ovechkin may be the more tangible matchup. Letang won this round.

Letang doesn’t get the credit he deserves and may never. Crosby and Malkin cast a long shadow. Letang has been a finalist for the Norris Trophy (NHL’s best defenseman) only once, in 2013. He has inexplicably never represented Canada in an Olympics or World Cup of Hockey. (But, as Letang has pointed out, Canada still wins.) But Letang is an all-time Penguin great, and his performances right now are often epic. He’s a workhorse and thoroughbred simultaneously.

About all those minutes of ice time: Every season, the GM and coach say Letang is going to play less.

Every season, Letang ends up playing just as much, if not more.

Letang, 31, is averaging 26:08 of ice so far this season. That’s well above his career average of 23:45 and would be the second-highest mark of his career.

Letang followed up his ice-time marathon at Washington by skating 26:37 vs. Minnesota. He was plus-2.

“If somebody goes down, everybody has to step up,” Letang said, referring to Oleksiak’s injury at Washington.

True. But Letang loves all that playing time.

“I do. I do,” Letang acknowledged, laughing. “But I like the day off following it.”

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Finally equals, Capitals-Penguins can be a rivalry worthy of both sides’ attention

(More from the other side...jtf)

By Thomas Boswell

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/capitals/finally-equals-capitals-penguins-can-be-a-rivalry-worthy-of-both-sides-attention/2018/12/20/6dcc78f6-0480-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html?utm_term=.88165bd7f48d

December 20, 2018

Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals is checked by Jack Johnson #73 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period at Capital One Arena on December 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The NHL has tried to promote a great rivalry between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals for the 14 years since Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin emerged as the two great players of this ice age. However, the rivalry never had a true chance to become epic — until now.

When Crosby and Ovechkin started screaming at each other from their benches, barely 10 feet apart, in the early minutes Wednesday night at Capital One Arena, that’s when I started grinning. Been waiting 20 years for this. Finally, both teams are totally under each other’s skin, not just the Penguins tormenting the Caps.

“Why don’t you fight him,” Crosby yelled at Ovechkin, referring to Pittsburgh’s 6-foot-7, 255-pound Jamie Oleksiak, who had just been helped off the ice, dazed and bloodied, as the result of one punch from the Caps’ Tom Wilson.

Was Crosby implying that big, tough Ovi lets others do his team’s fighting?

“Why don’t I fight you,” Ovechkin yelled back as NBC’s rink-side announcer relayed the conversation, word for word, to the hockey universe. Crosby, with the best hands in hockey, wouldn’t risk a knuckle for world peace.

Should we change the name of Capital One Arena to World of Beer?

The night ended with a 2-1 Penguins victory but one in which two Caps shots trickled within an inch of entering the Penguins goal before they were swept away at the last desperate microsecond. Ovechkin snapped his stick like a twig as he left the ice in disgust. The larger point of the game, however, was its overall brilliance, joy in battle and May intensity in December. Just like a real two-way rivalry.

In fact, with the Penguins and Caps as winners of the past three Stanley Cups and Crosby and Ovechkin as the preeminent stars in their sport, this battle probably has grown up to become the No. 1 Real Rivalry on the national sports scene. That the teams have such long-lasting dislike for each other doesn’t hurt.

Minutes after the Oleksiak knockout, Ovechkin responded to some shoving instigated by the Penguins’ Kris Letang with a face-to-face discussion against the glass. Usually, Ovechkin, as is a star’s prerogative, ignores such annoyance. This time, Ovi hounded and pounded Letang every chance he got.

“These are the games that are fun to play,” Nicklas Backstrom said after just the Caps’ third loss in their past 15 games. “Everyone is getting involved and a lot of emotions. Even if we lost, these are the games you want to play because you can see how the crowd is into it, too. We love it.”

In other words, the Caps knew they had been worthy of the Penguins’ full attention, unlike past years when the Penguins could point at their three rings from the Crosby era. For once, it was the Penguins who needed to use a midseason game as a message to the reigning champs.

After all, how can a champ really hate a chump? How can you have a rivalry with a team that never beats you when it matters and has no Cups, just hardware?

There are limits to the heights of ill will that can be reached when one team wins titles and the other side mostly hears itself called chokers. That’s why Caps-Penguins games, wonderful as they have been, will be on a higher level going forward.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics had a fine long-running NBA battle in the 1960s with Jerry West and Bill Russell as the central figures. But to this day, West bemoans the inability of his Lakers to reach full playoff equality with Boston — in the eyes of the Celtics. West was, ultimately, someone else’s foil.

The Lakers-Celtics faceoffs didn’t become totally wonderful or command national attention until the main actors were Magic Johnson and Larry Bird — and each side won multiple titles.

For almost a century the Boston Red Sox thought they had a huge rivalry with the New York Yankees. When I started covering their contretemps in the 1970s, I was surprised to discover that the Yankees’ view of the rivalry was: “With them?”

That’s why the Boston comeback from three games behind the Yankees in the 2004 playoffs was so important. The rivalry became real — both ways. And the Red Sox have had much the best of it ever since. Once mystiques of inherent superiority are punctured, they don’t get reestablished for decades.

What the Caps and Penguins are engaged in this season is no less tectonic. Now the Stanley Cup is in Washington’s hands. And the Penguins don’t want what happened to the Celtics in the 1980s and the Yankees in the 2000s to happen to them. When you inherit the upper hand in a not-quite-yet-a-true-rivalry, you sure don’t want the tables turned, because they can get reversed for a long time.

The Caps and their fans think they have had a rivalry with the Penguins since their first playoff battle in the spring of 1991. But hate must be a two-way street.

Until this spring, the Penguins had won nine of 10 of those postseason meetings with me frequently on hand to write the Washington obits, which often could have begun: “Ibid — for details, see last year’s final Caps-Penguins game.”

Now everything is altered. It’s not the same old Caps that the Penguins must deal with now, much as the Penguins would love to change the balance of power back to how things used to be. Now the Penguins must poke the champs to get a rise out of them. And it’s the Penguins, with some justification, who want to settle scores from last season.

After that May series, Pittsburgh was still boiling at Wilson, who got a three-game suspension for breaking the jaw of the Penguins’ Zach Aston-Reese with an illegal hit. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said, “When Jamie [Oleksiak] challenged him [to fight], Wilson couldn’t run quick enough to get away from him.”

So on Wednesday, Oleksiak needed just five seconds on the ice to take a run at a Caps player against the boards, akin to Wilson’s attack on Aston-Reese. Four seconds later, Wilson arrived at the scene. Unfinished business. Gloves off.

“I think both parties knew,” said Wilson, who missed the first two Caps-Penguins meetings this season because he was suspended for injuring an opponent with an illegal hit in an exhibition game. “I read the stuff that [was] said after last season. . . . Yeah, I think it probably had to be done sooner or later, give him a chance to defend his teammate after what happened last year.”

To many Washington fans, the Caps-Penguins confrontations have been a highlight of the sport’s year for a long time. But we may be too close to see the larger picture. It took 14 years, but finally both Crosby and Ovechkin have rings, and neither team has ghosts. You can be sure the players sense the change.

“That monkey is definitely off this team’s back — [not able to] play their best in the playoffs. That can’t be said anymore,” Lars Eller said. Now “when you play Pittsburgh it’s just knowing that you’re going up against one of the best teams in the league and a contender. Those are the fun games to play.”

As equals. At last.

For more by Thomas Boswell, visit washingtonpost.com/boswell.

12/20/18 Condensed Game: Wild @ Penguins

Tom Wilson won the fight; the Penguins won this round of the war

(The view from the other side of the rink...jtf)

By Barry Svrluga

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/capitals/tom-wilson-won-the-fight-the-penguins-won-this-round-of-the-war/2018/12/19/e5a2490a-03c2-11e9-b5df-5d3874f1ac36_story.html?utm_term=.a6c1e4bfce6a

December 19, 2018

Tom Wilson fights with Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak (6) in the first period. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)

Tom Wilson’s gloves came off almost immediately, but Jamie Oleksiak — all 6-foot-7, 255 pounds of Jamie Oleksiak — may have hit the ice before those mitts did. If this was the NHL of the 1980s, Wilson could have been a great goon. The right cross he threw to Oleksiak’s chin was the best punch thrown in Washington sports this week – and if you’ve seen the video of Redskins safety Montae Nicholson, that’s saying something.

Keep in mind what happened Wednesday night, because what happens between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins always seems to be kept in mind – even if months pass, even if the Stanley Cup changes hands. Wilson, engaged in a mutually agreed-upon fight with Oleksiak not a minute into the game, clobbered Oleksiak into 2019. The Penguins punched back with an absolutely absorbing 2-1 victory.

“A lot of things were said, probably, over the course of time in between the last game he played against them and this one,” Caps Coach Todd Reirden said.

“Right when we looked at each other,” Wilson said, “it was on.”

[Caps can’t buy a bounce, fall to rival Penguins]

Oh, for it to be April again. It seems impossible these two won’t meet for a — get this — fourth straight year in the playoffs. The winner of the previous three series has won the Stanley Cup. A re-re-rematch seems only appropriate, because this had what everything you wanted – two pucks, dancing on the goal-line, shots from the Caps that would have tied it in the third, pucks swiped away by Pittsburgh as the arena threatened explosion, then sucked it back in.

And if – no, sorry, when – these two rivals face each other in the spring, expect Wilson to be dead-front-and-center. In the play. In the discussion. In the controversy. In the brawls. And – don’t forget this – in the scoring.

“I think Willy, as a player, probably doesn’t get enough credit for what he brings,” Washington forward Lars Eller said.

Depends on the home Zip code of the person you’re asking. People in Washington know this, but it gets lost around hockey. The problem with distilling Wilson into an old-school goon: He’s too good. Too strong. Too smart. Too deft with his hands. To the rest of the league, he’s – pick your insult, but make sure it’s printable – a thug, a Neanderthal, a hoodlum. To the people who fill Capital One Arena to see the Stanley Cup champions, he’s a gorgeous leader, the present and the future of the Capitals all rolled into one.

The Caps’ goal Wednesday: It was scored by Eller, who needed it. But it was set up by Wilson, with a feathery soft pass on a two-on-one breakaway. Because of injury and suspension, Wilson has played in just 14 games this year. He has 16 points.

That’s a goon? It’s just not.

[What would a sentimental contract look like for Ovechkin, Backstrom?]

“Willy can do a lot of things,” Eller said. “His game has definitely grown a lot this season. It already grew a lot, I think, last season and in the playoffs. But he’s taken another step this year, and it’s good for our team.”

That’s all true. But here’s the other thing: Where Pittsburgh is concerned, there’s always lingering issues concerning Wilson. Because Wilson was suspended for the first two matchups between these two rivals, this was his first chance to face Pittsburgh since last May. That was, of course, when Wilson issued a hit to Zach Aston-Reese that left the Penguins’ rookie with a broken jaw and saddled Wilson with a three-game suspension – during the playoffs.

Seriously, we’re carrying grudges about events from more than seven months ago. That’s so great. It’s what rivalries that last years are built on, actual animosity. Remember what Pittsburgh General Manager Jim Rutherford said in the wake of Wilson’s hit on Aston-Reese?

“When Jamie challenged Wilson,” Rutherford told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette during last year’s playoffs, “he couldn’t run quick enough to get away from him.”

Um, Jim, how to put this? No. No, that’s not right.

“He’s a smart guy,” Reirden said. “He understands the situation.”

So he understood, even with the intensity of a well-played game, that he might be asked to fight.

“If there’s extracurriculars, we’ll handle it,” Wilson said at Wednesday morning’s skate. “At the end of the day, that’s hockey.”

Well, it’s not really hockey anymore, not like it once was. But where’s Wilson to go? He can’t run players into the boards, because the line is so, so fine. As a repeat offender, he’ll be scrutinized – and, eventually, penalized and suspended and fined – more heavily than almost any player in the league.

So maybe what’s left is for Wilson to go back to embracing fighting, because if he does that, he’s only penalized in the game – not in the pocketbook and, more importantly, not by missing time. It’s not a good way to live for anyone’s long-term health – not Wilson’s and, clearly by looking a the exchange with Oleksiak, not for his opponents.

I’m not endorsing a return to the NHL’s old brawling ways. But the point is: Wilson can’t just finish his checks as retaliation. Sometimes, he has to drop the gloves.

“I read the stuff that’s said after last season leading up to it,” Wilson said, “so I think it probably had to be done sooner or later.”

Turns out it was sooner. What followed in the next 59 minutes was a fabulous hockey game, as we have come to expect from these two teams, whether it’s Christmas or Easter. The Caps got five power-play chances and converted on none of them. The Pens got four and snuck one past Braden Holtby – by Sidney Crosby, of course. And that’s about the whole of it. Fun times in Chinatown. See you again March 12 in Pittsburgh – and again in the playoffs.

When those matchups happen again, we’ll focus on Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, because they’re the two best players of their generation and they have defined this rivalry for more than a decade.

But when they meet again, Tom Wilson will be out there, in the center of it. He will floor an opponent or feather a pass. He will take derision from the opposition and the media and spit it back. Wednesday night, he won his fight and the Caps lost their game. But these Penguins, they’ll be back for Tom Wilson again. And Wilson will be right there, ready to go, whether the gloves stay on or need to be dropped.