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Dan Muse and Ben Kindel Sound Off After Penguins Gut-Check Victory
Photo credit: Edit from The Hockey News
The Penguins came away with a gritty win vs. the Capitals, but they once again blew a three-goal lead, so Dan Muse and Ben Kindel sounded off afterward.
The Pittsburgh Penguins nearly made history, but unfortunately, it wasn't the good stuff. For the second time in the last seven days, the Penguins blew a three-goal lead against one of their biggest rivals in the East Conference.
However, unlike the last time out, the Penguins held on to their composure, with Bryan Rust's third-period goal securing the 5-3 win over the Washington Capitals.
Sidney Crosby started strong, scoring twice in the first period to establish the tone for the Penguins.
The Capitals received some breathing room with an extended lead by Anthony Mantha, who made it 3-0 just a few minutes into the second period, but the composure of the Penguins disintegrated from there.
The Capitals surged all the way back in the course of 10 minutes, with Tom Wilson knotting the score just before the second intermission.
That could have derailed the Penguins. Instead, it made them sharper. The man-advantage unit had a big night, scoring three power-play goals on five chances, while the penalty kill denied Alex Ovechkin and company on all three attempts.
"We were just in this situation three days ago," Dan Muse said. "It would have been really easy for this group to cave. I thought we came out in the third period and we did the things we needed to do to win the game."
Ben Kindel believes the Penguins learned their lesson from their collapse against Toronto
Once the Penguins regrouped, they finished the game strong, just how they needed to bounce back from their collapse in Toronto last time out.
"We learned a lot (in Toronto)," Ben Kindel explained. "Obviously, the second period didn't go our way. The character we showed to bounce back - to get the 2 points was massive - it says a lot about our group."
The win is definitely a relief, but also a reminder that this team is capable of answering adversity on the right stage.
The Penguins won't see the Caps again until April, but they will go into their next game as one of the hottest teams in the NHL, just one point from the league lead, trailing only the Colorado Avalanche.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 7 | 105 ANSWERS Dan Muse and Ben Kindel Sound Off After Penguins Gut-Check Victory Have you seen enough? Are the Penguins for real? | ||
| Yes | 96 | 91.4 % |
| No | 9 | 8.6 % |
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