Penguins Bounce Capitals

Jaromir Jagr’s cross-ice pass from the left wing hit Calle Johansson in the left leg and ricocheted into the net Friday night, putting the Pittsburgh Penguins into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

While Johansson let out a cry and stood dejected with his hands and stick on his knees, Jagr raised his arms and celebrated as he would after any goal. The Penguins might not have been the better team in their 2-1 Game 5 victory, but they were definitely the luckier one.

“What do you want me to say--that I was so lucky? You have to be lucky to win,” said Jagr, who had been contained all game by the Capital defense. “If they would have scored a goal and we would lose you guys would have said that we got outplayed and we didn’t have a good team. It happens. It’s hockey. Of course, we were lucky. We’re going to take it. I’m going to take it.”

The winning goal came with 12:04 to play and gave Pittsburgh a 4-1 series victory. The Penguins will play the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“It’s going to be WWF,” Jagr said. “We’re going to sign some wrestling guys.”

The Penguins have been the biggest culprit in Washington’s postseason woes, winning five of six series against the Capitals over the last decade. This series had four consecutive one-goal games in which little separated the teams, but Washington, seeded No. 2 in the East, never recovered from a 7-0 Game 1 blowout.