NHL schedule: Jamie Benn lifts Stars to OT win over Blues

The Penguins and Capitals rivalry has been rather one-sided the past couple of seasons, and with their 2-0 win on Tuesday Pittsburgh extended its current winning streak over Washington to eight straight games. Even worse for the Capitals is that it keeps them three points out of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference while most of the teams they’re competing with still have games in hand.

Even worse: The Capitals upcoming schedule features games against Toronto, Los Angeles (twice), Boston, San Jose, and Anaheim. Brutal.

And then things really started to get bad.

Van Riemsdyk was shaken up on the play and had to leave the game before later returning. Seeing as how he has a history of concussions and was on the receiving end of that hit (not to mention the fact that the game was already pretty much decided) it seemed to be a bit of an unnecessary risk to put him back in.

Peverley remained in Dallas on Tuesday as he continues to undergo tests to figure out what triggered his cardiac event on Monday. He collapsed on the bench shortly after taking one of his regular shifts. Earlier this year he missed time due to surgery to repair an irregular heartbeat and even missed a game last week as a result after he was not feeling well.

The situation was obviously terrifying for everybody involved, including his teammates. Forward Alex Chiasson did not travel with the team to St. Louis because he was so shaken up following Peverley’s episode.

After playing just 10 minutes in his debut on Monday, Kuznetsov saw his ice-time go up to 15 minutes on Tuesday. He finished the game with three shots on goal.

(Gif via @CapitalsHill of Japers’ Rink)

Here is the play.

Hartnell definitely made contact with Brodeur, but Hartnell was also pushed into him by Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov. In the end, it didn’t matter because the call on the ice was no goal and according to NHL rule the play is not reviewable.

(Thanks to @MikeDarnay from Pensburgh for the GIF)

New York and Philly are separated by a single point, so a number of outcomes could result in a change of position.

Tuesday marks the final regular season meeting between these two teams and closes out a home-and-home series that began Monday. Pittsburgh ended up winning that contest, 3-2, which gives Washington the opportunity to seek some revenge.