Capitals Shut Out Penguins in Winter Classic Rematch

Revenge was the theme of Sunday's Caps game, a rematch of the NHL Winter Classic. The Pittsburgh Penguins came to Washington for their first game against one another since the Caps defeated them 3-1 on New Year's Day at Heinz Field. Michal Neuvirth made 22 saves to record his second shutout of the season as the Caps fought their way to a 3-0 win.

Neuvirth had a chip on his shoulder going into the game after HBO's 24/7 show captured Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma calling him a bad goalie in the previous game they played.

"Before the game, I remember when he said that and I kind of looked at him [Bylsma] during the warm up and told myself that I got to shut these guys out tonight," said Neuvirth.

Another point of revenge came midway through the third period when recent Pittsburgh call up Tim Wallace fought David Steckel. It was Steckel who collided with Sidney Crosby in the Winter Classic, which many believe caused his concussion. Crosby was hit hard again in the next game and has missed the last 13 games including Sunday's.

"If anybody wants to build this whole Crosby thing up, I mean, he didn't hit him intentionally," said Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau after the game. "I've coached him for eight years now, and he's never done it once. If they want to use it as a motivating tool, go ahead. And, they send out a guy they call up ... I thought it was crap."

Brooks Laich opened up the scoring when he backhanded a rebound of a John Erskine shot past Marc-Andre Fluery for his second goal in as many games. Mathieu Perreault picked up the secondary assist to give him four points in the last three games.

Marcus Johansson doubled the lead when he scored a shorthanded goal early in the second to become the first Washington rookie to score shorthanded since Alex Ovechkin had three in his first season (2005-2006).

Mike Knuble closed out the scoring for his 30th career goal against the Penguins. He has scored in every game he has played against them as a member of the Washington Capitals - a seven game streak.

A scary moment in the game happened as the first period ended when Washington defenseman Mike Green took a Brooks Orpik slapshot to the side of the head. He received a few stitches and did not return, but Boudreau said his status was "day-to-day."

The Capitals will also possibly be looking for revenge against Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke. The former Capital collided with Ovechkin and appeared to lead with his knee. Ovechkin immediately got up and, along with Nicklas Backstrom, went after Cooke. He was only assessed a two minute minor penalty for tripping and declined Matt Bradley's invitation to fight after he left the penalty box.

Boudreau had some choice words for Cooke after the game, saying, "It's not like it's his first rodeo. He's done it to everybody and then he goes to the ref and says, 'What did I do?' He knows damn well what he did. There's no doubt in my mind that he's good at it and he knows how to do it and he knows how to pick this stuff. We, as a league, we still buy into this, that it was an accidental thing."

The two teams meet again in Pittsburgh Feb. 21 to close out their season series. The Capitals currently lead the series 2-0-1.

The Capitals will be looking to gain the upper hand in case the two teams meet in the playoffs. If the season ended today they would meet in the first round.

Additional Notes

- Sunday's game was the 18th Super Bowl Sunday matinee in Washington since 1988. The Capitals have won eight straight since moving to Verizon Center and are 14-3-1 overall in those games.

- Nicklas Backstrom won 14 of 17 faceoffs in his 300th career game.

- Bruce Boudreau is 10-1-3 against Pittsburgh in the regular season.