Capitals blank Penguins

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Alex Ovechkin scored the only goal and Michal Neuvirth was perfect for the second straight time against the Penguins, leading the Washington Capitals to a 1-0 win at Pittsburgh on Monday night.

Neuvirth made 39 saves, including 18 in the first period, for his third shutout of the season, and second against the Penguins after a 3-0 victory on Feb. 6.

Ovechkin secured the Capitals third win in four games by blasting a 35-footer over Marc-Andre Fleury’s right shoulder late in the second period.

Ovechkin’s goal — his first in four games this season against Pittsburgh — made up for Fleury stoning him on a breakaway in the first period in an entertaining back-and-forth game between two Eastern Conference rivals.

The Capitals continue to have the edge on the Penguins, winning their season series 3-0-1 and improving to 10-0-2 since March 2008.

Fleury was solid in stopping 23 shots as the offensively depleted Penguins dropped to 2-4-1 in their past seven.

Help is on the way for Pittsburgh, which hours prior to the game traded defenseman Alex Goligoski to Dallas in exchange for forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen.

Pittsburgh out-shot the Capitals 39-24, including 14-3 in the third period, but couldn’t solve Neuvirth.

The Penguins had plenty of jump but no finish for a team that’s down 10 regulars, including Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh hasn’t scored against Washington in 157:47 since Evgeni Malkin’s second-period goal in a 3-1 loss during the Winter Classic on Jan. 1.

The Capitals (32-19-10), coming off a 2-1 win at Buffalo a day earlier, went 3-2 in completing a five-game road trip and inched to within a point of Southeast Division-leading Tampa Bay and three points of the fourth-place Penguins in the East.