WASHINGTON -- Determined to get out of their recent funk and motivated to measure up to the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals took out their frustrations in a 7-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.The score was indicative of just how lopsided the game was as the Capitals got two goals and three assists from Nicklas Backstrom and two goals and two assists from T.J. Oshie. They scored short-handed, at even strength and on the power play and skated the Penguins out of the building in the rivals second meeting of the season.We played really quick tonight, we got on their D-men, said Backstrom, who tied his career high with five points. We were hungry out there and we won battles and obviously we scored on our chances, too. Thats huge.Washington had lost two in a row and three of four and didnt look at all like a team that lost in overtime Tuesday night at Columbus. Alex Ovechkin ended his four-game point drought with his eighth goal of the season, and Dmitry Orlov and Justin Williams also scored.Ovechkin got a scare when he was taken down by Kris Letang in the second period, leaving the ice briefly before returning a few minutes later. He said his arm went numb but that he was healthy enough to come back and contribute to the blowout.Its nice to see when we play like that, we stick together and we dont give them anything or much, Ovechkin said. Its a good sign.Its a bad sign for the Penguins to put up that kind of effort despite being rested. Pittsburgh allowed a short-handed goal to Oshie early and took nine minor penalties as things fell apart.These games are humbling, Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. We were embarrassed out there tonight, all of us.Cup-winning goaltender Matt Murray left the game late in the first period after teammate Evgeni Malkin accidentally hit him in the head when he was trying to shove Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner. Murray said he went through the NHLs concussion protocol and was medically cleared to return, but Sullivan opted to stick with Marc-Andre Fleury out of an abundance of caution.After Murray allowed two goals on 14 shots, Fleury gave up five goals on 25 shots. Phil Kessel scored the Penguins only goal in garbage time as they lamented a wasted game.Its a couple my faults, a couple penalties, Malkin said. Were not ready today. Washington lost last two games. Theyre hungry. They deserved this win.The Capitals didnt let up and poured on the points as the Penguins penalties and mistakes added up. Twelve different players had at least one point, and the beleaguered power play got some much-needed practice and went 2 for 7, scoring at 4-on-3 and 5-on-3.No matter the source of the offensive explosion, this was the kind of game Washington would like to play on a regular basis.We played fast, said goaltender Braden Holtby, who stopped 25 of 27 shots. We didnt stop skating all night. Just watching the last couple games, it seemed like we were just missing a couple strides here and there to keep that team speed up. Tonight guys were committed. I think it was a game where we realized we need to be better and play more to our identity.Game notes F Tom Sestito played for the first time since Nov. 3, replacing Tom Kuhnhackl in the Penguins lineup. Sestito played just 4:49 and was given a 10-minute misconduct at the end of the second period.UP NEXTPenguins: Continue their three-game road trip at the New York Islanders on Friday night.Capitals: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night as they continue a five-game homestand. Breyvic Valera Jersey . LUCIE, Fla. Luke Voit Jersey . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. https://www.cheapyankees.com/1611g-roger-maris-jersey-yankees.html . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Don Mattingly Yankees Jersey . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. Derek Jeter Jersey . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. GURNEE, Ill. -- For the United States and Taiwan, the first session of the UL International Crown was a repeat of the first day of the inaugural event two years ago.Each country is hoping for a better weekend.The U.S. lost both of its four-ball matches to England, and Yani Tseng helped Taiwan sweep Australia on Thursday in the rare team event on the LPGA Tour.Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr lost 2 and 1 to Holly Clyburn and Jodi Ewart Shadoff, and Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller fell to Charley Hull and Melissa Reid by the same score. Thompson, Kerr and Lewis also were on the American team that was swept on the first day of the first International Crown in 2014 and finished sixth.Thats what this format is. You play good golf and youre going to lose matches, and thats the way it goes, Lewis said. Were going to go out there and play good golf again, and hopefully we get on the good side of it. Were still in this thing, and weve just got to take care of business tomorrow.Next up is two more days of four-ball matches at the sprawling Merit Club about 40 miles northwest of Chicago. The top two teams in each pool and the winner of wild-card playoff between the third-place teams will advance to the singles matches Sunday, with each player from the winning country taking home $100,000 apiece.With the course set up for low scores, world No. 6 Ariya Jutanugarn made seven birdies while playing with Porani Chutichai for Thailand, but they only managed a halve against Japans Ai Suzuki and Ayaka Watanabe. Jutanugarns sister, Moriya, teamed with Pornanong Phatum for a 2-and-1 win over Haru Nomura and Mika Miyazato.Top-seeded South Korea, with each of its four players ranked in the top 12, split its two matches against No. 8 China. Amy Yang and In Gee Chun won 2 up over Shanshan Feng and Xi Yu Lin, but Jing Yan and Simin Feng got two points for China with a 1-up victory over Sei Young Kim and So Yeon Ryu.The Chinese girls just played really, really great, Ryu said. They made an eagle, they made a bunker shot. I think their teamwork was really nice.Tseng and Teresa Lu went off in the first match and cruised to a 3-and-2 victory over Karrie Webb and Su Oh. Tseng and Lu then wattched as Candie Kung and Ssu-Chia Cheng posted a 2-up win over Rebecca Artis and Minjee Lee.ddddddddddddTaiwan also won its first two matches at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland in 2014, but didnt score another point all weekend.We changed a little bit about the strategy about how were going to play this year because we both won on the first day, like four points, but we lose them on Friday and Saturday, Tseng said. We kind of changed it a little bit, the teammates and the strategy on the golf course. We tried to make as much birdies as we can instead of one play aggressive and one play more smart and safe.Thompson and Kerr never led in their match. Clyburn closed it out with a birdie on the par-4 17th.We played really well on the front, and on the back we didnt play well enough to win, Kerr said. A couple more putts go in, a couple better shots. I left Lexi a couple times as a partner, and you cant do that in four-ball if you want to win.China and England did not make the field for the inaugural event, which is determined by the cumulative rankings of the countrys top four players on a given date. They replaced champion Spain and runner-up Sweden.We were saying along the way, were all pretty big football fans, and obviously we had the Euros recently and we made more points in one day than England did in the whole tournament, so can I just point that out, a smiling Reid said. So were pretty proud of that, so were already on a winner.Hull and Reid won three straight holes to go from 1 down to 1 up heading to the back nine. The 20-year-old Hull had three straight birdies and Reid eagled No. 8, a 468-yard par 5.After Lewis birdied No. 15 to square the match, Hull posted an eagle and a birdie to close it out for England.I just love playing in this kind of environment, especially when you are a bit of an underdog, said Hull, who is headed to the Olympics next month. I just like proving people wrong, and it just makes you go out there, gives you a little bit more of a buzz.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '