Penguins Fall Apart In Second Period, Suffer Ugly 8-3 Loss To Capitals

The Pittsburgh Penguins had a really solid start in the first half of their matchup against the Washington Capitals on Saturday, which was their first game following the 4 Nations Face-off break.

But a horrendous final 10 minutes of the second period buried them.

Starting with a Jakub Chychrun goal 10 minutes and 38 seconds into the period, the Captials scored four goals in seven minutes and 27 seconds to catapult themselves to victory, 8-3, over the Penguins.

Prior to Chychrun’s goal, the game was a back-and-forth affair. The teams exchanged goals, with Ethen Frank opening the scoring for Washington just over five minutes into the game and Kris Letang potting a power play goal for the Penguins with just over a minute remaining in the first.

The second period started off the same way. Caps defenseman Martin Fehervary scored just over a minute into the second to make it 2-1, then Sidney Crosby answered a little more than five minutes later to tie it again.

Four minutes later, the Capitals took over. Chychrun scored two consecutive goals, then Aliaksei Protas found the twine just seven seconds after Chychrun’s second goal, knocking Penguins starting goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic out of the game.

An unobstructed Tom Wilson screened Joel Blomqvist – who relieved Nedeljkovic – and deflected the shot from the point to make it 6-2.

“We beat ourselves in so many ways,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “And that’s the most disappointing part.”

Here are some other observations from Saturday’s loss:

– It has been said before, and it’s worth saying again.

This is a very fragile Penguins team.

Pittsburgh was actually playing very well prior to their meltdown in the latter half of the second period. They were getting some offense generated, their power play looked great, and they were forechecking hard and were putting the Capitals on their heels at times.

But as soon as a little bit of adversity finds them, they tend to fold.

They weren’t getting saves from Nedeljkovic early on, and instead of buckling down and playing hard in front of him, their defense completely caved in. Sullivan always goes back to the term “momentum” – and the Penguins are often not able to handle momentum swings that don’t go in their favor.

– This game really told the story about the Penguins and the Capitals being in completely different places as franchises at the moment.

The Capitals are a well-balanced team that gets contributions from up and down their lineup, and they smothered the Penguins during their onslaught in the second period. Then, in the third period, they mostly shut the Penguins down, not giving them too much space and continuing on the attack despite being up by four goals heading into that final frame. They also didn’t panic when the Penguins tied the game two different times.

In some ways, they are remniscent of the 2016 and 2017 Penguins. Once they have a multi-goal lead, they just smother you and completely shut you down.

The Penguins, on the other hand, look like a team that is barely holding it together. They cave when momentum swings to the opposition, they’re out of sorts and out of position in the defensive zone, and they don’t often capitalize in big moments. Their giveaways and miscues often result in grade-A chances against, and their goaltending has not been there for them consistently enough this season.

They look old, they look slow, and they look outclassed. They have some promising prospects on the horizon, and while development of their younger players is paramount, the youth can’t get to Pittsburgh soon enough.

– This was a terrible showing for the Penguins’ defensive corps.

Matt Grzelcyk made a poor decision to change on Washington’s first goal while Erik Karlsson was pinching, which made the way for the goal to happen. Karlsson showed minimal effort in trying to prevent the goal from being scored. Kris Letang made a poor decision to pinch on Fehervary’s goal. Karlsson made a poor decision to pinch on Protas’s goal.

Sullivan was not happy with the effort of his defensemen and the defensive effort as a whole, and he thinks the team got the result it deserved because of that.

“When you chase offense, and you don’t have a recognition of risk-reward, you end up giving your opponents easy offense,” Sullivan said. “And, as a result, that’s what we get.”

– Nedeljkovic, after having a very strong run of games prior to the break, was not good for the Penguins tonight.

Yes, the defense was poor. But Nedeljkovic did them no favors. He surrendered five goals on 13 shots. That’s not good enough.

Blomqvist was shaky at the beginning, but he got better as the game went on – particularly during a third-period five-on-three that lasted a minute and a half (Noel Acciari was also very good on this kill).

If I were the Penguins, I probably would have considered starting Blomqvist in the first game, only because he had some game exposure over the break and was more gamebroken.

He will likely start against the New York Rangers Sunday.

– It’s probably for the best that the Penguins will get right back to business on Sunday afternoon against the Rangers. This is one they’ll want to wash from their memory.

– The pre-game ceremony held for late Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange was beautiful.

Lange’s family was there, as well as his broadcast family. Crosby, Letang, and Evgeni Malkin – all of whom had personal relationships with Lange – joined the family for the video tribute. Both teams wore patches on their hat in tribute to Lange. There was a long standing ovation for him after a call to celebrate his life.

It was very moving and emotional. Lange was a treasure, and he will never be forgotten.