East Division Update - February 23rd

This night only held two games for the East division. The games featured the marquee matchup of Pittsburgh vs. Washington at Capital One Arena and the Buffalo Sabers in New Jersey against the Devils. Pittsburgh and Washington were both coming off wins, while Buffalo and New Jersey were coming off losses. My short analysis of both games below:

(Image Credits: 1 - World 24 News, 2 - Jaspers' Rink)

SABERS @ DEVILS

The Buffalo Sabers were looking to get some sort of momentum going, as they have started to score recently. The biggest problem for the Sabers was their ability to keep the puck out of the net in critical situations. The Sabers came into New Jersey and handed it to a Devils team that was looking for a rebound after they blew a lead Sunday in Washington. The Sabers may finally be discovering something in their team, but only time will tell if that's the case. Buffalo skates away with this one 4-1. The Sabers goaltending finally came around as well, with Linus Ullmark making 41 saves on 42 shots in the victory.

Scoring:

1st Period: No Goals.

2nd Period: Buffalo: Victor Olofsson, 7th of the season (PPG). New Jersey: None.

3rd Period: Buffalo: Rasmus Asplund, 1st NHL goal (Even Strength), Dylan Cozens, 3rd of the season (Even Strength), Cody Eakin, 1st of the season (Even Strength). New Jersey: Nikita Gusev, 2nd of the season (Even Strength).

PENGUINS @ CAPITALS

This game, as always with these two, was sure to entertain. The battle was a hard-fought one, with lots of emotion. The Penguins were looking to keep rolling through opponents in the East, while Washington was trying to get back to a consistent game they have been missing for a few weeks now. The Penguins and Caps would remain tied after 60 minutes for the third time this year, and head to the overtime session. In overtime, Pittsburgh controlled the pace once again, and Kasperi Kapanen scored to give the Penguins the W. Washington continues to struggle against this team in the extra frame, having lost to their division rival twice in O.T. before this contest. Pittsburgh also badly outshot Washington, 37-22. That being said, Vitec Vanecek played well in this one for the Capitals.

Scoring:

1st Period: Pittsburgh: Evgeni Malkin, 4th of the season (PPG)

2nd Period: Washington: Richard Panik, 2nd of the season (Even Strength), Conor Sheary, 5th of the season (Even Strength). Pittsburgh: Jake Guentzal, 6th of the season (Even Strength)

3rd Period: No Goals.

Overtime: Pittsburgh: Kasperi Kapanen, 3rd of the season (3-on-3 O.T.)

Division Standings after tonight:

1. Boston

2. Washington

3. Pittsburgh

4. NY Islanders

5. Philadelphia

6. NY Rangers

7. New Jersey

8. Buffalo