It’ll be interesting to see if this can continue for the Penguins as the series shifts to Pittsburgh for Games 3 and 4.
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“They’ve got a good deep defensive corps”, he said.
In a video outlining the reasons for the suspension, the National Hockey League noted Orpik’s disciplinary history as a factor in its length. “Obviously I had a lot of years here, and to be able to get that one to tie up the series and bring it back home with a split is enormous for us…” It’s expected Nate Schmidt will move up in the depth chart and play with John Carlson, Orpik’s usual defense partner.
A heady effort from a short-handed defense corps allowed the Pittsburgh Penguins to grab home-ice advantage away from the Washington Capitals. The suspension is the third doled out by the league’s Department of Player Safety this postseason.
The Penguins went on to win, 2-1, to even the best-of-seven series at one game apiece. “I thought it was a target to his head”.
Brooks Orpik won’t be taking the ice with the Washington Capitals Monday night.
Asked if Orpik plays any differently with Washington than he did with Pittsburgh, Letang said, “Uh, no”.
After the hit, NBC analyst Mike Milbury went on to call Orpik a “predator” and pointed out that Orpik “looks for people who are vulnerable”.
“We do a much better job of managing the puck, and I think the whole year that’s something we really focused on was being harder to play against and being really strong in our [defensive] zone and letting that be our strength and turn that into offense for us”, he told ESPN. “It was just fortunate enough where I timed it so when he brought it to his forehand I just reached out and got a piece of it. Pretty fortunate”.
The hit caused a lot of chatter on social media, and Maatta was injured and never returned to the game thanks to the interference. He plays clean. He’s not a dirty player.
“This hit is forceful, unacceptably high and excessively late”, said the ruling.
“I mean, the people here in Pittsburgh trying to paint him that way, come on”, Trotz said.
Said Ovechkin: “Didn’t play how we want to play”. Somehow Orpik only found himself picking up a minor penalty. “We’re going to play the game we’ve tried to play here for four or five months now”. But the Capitals played half a regular-season without Orpik due to a lower body injury and missed him for three games during their first round series against the Flyers.
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Sullivan would not comment on Fleury’s availability but said he has made “significant improvement” as he tries to recover from a second concussion this season.
