Silovs and Pittsburgh Penguins lose to Washington after a costly mistake

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost 3-5 to the Washington Capitals in their third game of the NHL regular season. After two wins to start the campaign, the visitors could not extend the streak, falling behind 1-4 and failing to recover.

How the game unfolded

Anthony Beauvillier opened the scoring after just 23 seconds, and Brian Rust levelled it less than a minute later. Washington regained the lead after a careless pass by Kris Letang in his own zone, which Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson capitalised on. In the second period the hosts built a three-goal lead, but Tommy Novak and Nick Robertson cut Pittsburgh's deficit to 3-4 before the intermission.

In the third period Ryan Leonard scored on the power play to restore a two-goal margin. Later, Washington goaltender Logan Thompson stopped Blake Lizotte on a breakaway. Wilson scored once and added two assists.

Silovs' mistake

Arturs Silovs had started Pittsburgh's first two games and helped the team win both. This time, in the second period, he sent the puck around the boards behind the net, where Wilson picked it up and passed to Dubois, who made it 3-1. On the next goal Silovs faced two opponents: Alex Tuch intercepted a pass near his own blue line and, after a give-and-go with Wilson, made it 4-1.

The Latvian stopped 22 of 27 shots, a save percentage of 81.5%. He has played in three games this season and allowed 10 goals. His save percentage stands at 85.9% and his goals-against average is 3.38.

Other notes

Sidney Crosby was on the ice for all four Capitals goals at even strength and finished with a plus-minus of −4. Washington earned its first win in a home opener since the 2021-22 season, when on 13 October 2021 it beat the New York Rangers 5-1.