Eric Fehr scored the tiebreaking goal against his former team with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining Saturday night, giving the Pittsburgh Penguins a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals that tied the Eastern Conference second-round playoff series at a game apiece.
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Orpik hit Maatta in the head after the puck was gone four minutes into Game 2 Saturday and was given a two-minute minor penalty for interference. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan stated that he is “not optimistic” about Maatta returning for Game 3.
Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik’s high hit on Olli Maattaa in Game’s 2 first period. “I think they’re just trying to do their job”.
“He just finished on a hit”, Trotz said.
Pittsburgh knew how well they played in the first game, and continued their strong offensive style right from the first puck drop.
When Trotz subsequently was asked about his comments of “not surprised based on who we’re playing and all that”, he replied: “Take it for whatever you want”.
Orpik went on to explain how his heat-of-the-moment play developed.
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Pittsburgh outshot the Caps 35-24 in the game, and took the win by the score line of 2-1. He hit Maatta with a raised elbow as the player turned.
Orpik stressed his intent was not to go after Maatta’s head.
Given that the National Hockey League probably has a better idea of Maata’s status from the Penguins than does the public, and given all the other context, it’s easy to see how they arrived at three games.
This time, Pittsburgh recovered quickly from its 4-3 overtime loss in Game 1 on Thursday night, and did it in part by again shutting down Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who led the National Hockey League with 50 goals this season.
“I’ll say this about Brooks Orpik: He’s played here 10 years, or close to 10 years in (Pittsburgh), he’s a first-class person on and off the ice”, said Trotz. It not reduce the length of suspensions because they happen in the playoffs vs. the regular season.
“I expect to be better”, Bishop said. Orpik previously missed the final three games of Washington’s first-round series against the Flyers with an upper body injury. “It doesn’t matter who’s going to step in for him, whether it’s Orlov or Weber”.
“We have a couple of guys that are with us right now that are good players, that have helped us win”, Sullivan said.
Capitals defenseman John Carlson defended Orpik as a player and a person. Trotz told an official there shouldn’t have been a penalty and later called it “a little bit of a double whammy”.
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Orpik is not a dirty player, and though he has had history of hard hits and plays, he did not intend to hurt Maatta.
