Penguins 2, Capitals 1
Chris Kunitz scored the game winner early in the third period and the Pittsburgh Penguins blanketed the Washington Capitals on the way to a 2-1 road victory Thursday night.
The Capitals managed just 17 shots on goal as they fell to 0-2-0 under new head coach Dale Hunter. It was Pittsburgh's first win over Washington in five tries.
With the teams even 1-1 after 40 minutes, Kunitz gave Pittsburgh the lead 2:36 into the third period. He wrested the puck free from Washington defenseman John Erskine before firing a quick wrist shot that squeezed past Washington netminder Tomas Vokoun.
Pittsburgh's Craig Adams opened the scoring at 5:21, swatting home a cross-crease backhand pass from Arron Asham. Moments later, Asham dropped the gloves with Erskine, Washington's payback for an Asham punch that knocked out Jay Beagle in the teams' last encounter.
Jason Chimera evened things early in the second period, breaking out from the right corner and lifting a backhand that beat Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury for his 10th goal of the season.
The Capitals' trio of Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom combined for just three shots on the night.