Penguins Unable To Solve Capitals Defense In 4-1 Loss

The Pittsburgh Penguins did all they could Saturday to earn a win against the league’s best team in the Washington Capitals.

It just wasn’t enough.

Despite 56 shot attempts, the Penguins dropped a 4-1 contest to the Capitals in a well-played game. They trailed, 2-0, going into the third period, and they carried play for large portions of the evening.

Bryan Rust scored midway through the third to make it 2-1, and the Penguins had some momentum. But Kris Letang took a penalty with just over four minutes remaining in regulation, and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored on the resulting power play for the Caps.

Brandon Duhaime added an empty-net goal to seal the win.

Even though the Penguins came up short, there are still a lot of positives to take from the game – including the play of their rookie goaltender.

Joel Blomqvist surrendered three goals on 31 shots – none of which were bad goals – and he made a lot of big saves to keep the Penguins in the game, including one on a shorthanded breakaway by Tom Wilson in the third period.

“He was awesome,” Rust said. “He kept us in it there until the end of the game. He made some big saves at some key times. Obviously, he’s a really good goalie, so I’m sure he’s just going to keep building on that.”

Logan Thompson played well at the other end, and Rust’s goal broke a shutout streak for him that was over 160 minutes at that point. The Penguins got 19 shots through to Thompson, but the Capitals blocked 18 other attempts and thwarted any second-chance opportunities, making it difficult for the Penguins to get too many grade-A looks.

“They play hard,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “They play a straight-ahead game. They’re big and strong. They defend hard. It’s a hard game when you play against them. They’re a good team.”

Here are some thoughts and observations from Saturday’s loss:

– The Penguins’ penalty kill continues to be a massive problem right now.

Sullivan said that there were a few contested faceoffs that they could have done a better job on, including one that led to Dubois’s goal. I’m also not seeing the same level of aggressiveness on their kill that was apparent when the unit was clicking on all cylinders.

They’re getting caved in consistently. They’re missing clears. They’re not boxing out opponents in the soft areas of the ice.

They have surrendered 10 power play goals in their 12 games since the holiday break. Their PK has plummeted from seventh in the league to 14th in a short time, and the personnel on the unit simply aren’t getting the job done.

It’s easy to point to one guy as a scapegoat, but it’s not that simple. Defensemen and forwards are equally responsible for the unit’s shortcomings right now.

– The Capitals are such a good defensive team. This loss didn’t come as a result of a lack of effort on the Penguins’ part.

The Caps simply give up nothing in their own zone. The Penguins controlled play for most of the evening. The Capitals had spurts where they hemmed the Penguins in their own zone, but Pittsburgh probably deserved a better fate.

They have great defensive structure and clog up passing and shooting lanes. They swarm their own net front and give up very few second-chance opportunities. They have great support on their breakouts and the speed to get from end-to-end.

I’m still not convinced this team is as good as their results so far suggest. But they’re a really good hockey team, and when looking at their goaltending tandem and their defensive game, it’s not difficult to see why they are at the top of the league.

– Letang and Anthony Beauvillier both took inexcusable penalties in this game.

Letang’s penalty at the end occured in the offensive zone, and it’s just not a penalty a veteran player should be taking when down one goal with four minutes left in regulation. He pinched unnecessarily, and in an effort to get back into the play, he took a tripping penalty.

As for Beauvillier, he slew-footed Matt Roy from behind in the waning seconds of the second period, and the resulting scrums ended up with the Penguins on the PK to start the third, trailing by two at the time. In all fairness, things should have been evened up – as Michael Bunting got a roughing penalty that wasn’t matched for whatever reason – but it was still a bad penalty to take at a crucial juncture in the game.

Given their PK struggles, this team needs to play smarter and be more disciplined if they’re going to win hockey games.

– That said, I thought the second line was flying tonight. Evgeni Malkin has his gallop, and his skating was on display all night long. Bunting was engaged, as was Beauvillier, despite the ill-advised penalty. Beauvillier set up Malkin beautifully from down low for a glorious opportunity in the slot during the second period, which was stymied by Thompson.

I think this line should stay together. But I will say that, sooner or later, Malkin needs to back up his strong play by putting pucks in the net.

– Something does not look right with Sidney Crosby.

He took a heavy cross-check by Adam Larsson during the Penguins’ loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, and he left the ice for a bit in response. He was also nursing his wrist on the bench at one point during the win against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.

I’m not here to suggest or speculate anything regarding Crosby and an injury. I don’t have any more information than the average person. But he just appeared to be a little off tonight, which may or may not be related.

– Despite struggling defensively this season, Rust is having a marvelous season offensively.

He is now up to 19 goals and 37 points in 41 games, sniffing point-per-game. I talk about Rickard Rakell often – and for good reason – but Rust has been as reliable as they come offensively this season.

And what a toe-drag move that was to undress John Carlson.

– I won’t spend a lot of time on this, but I think Matt Grzelcyk should be out for six-on-five situations instead of Erik Karlsson. I do see the value in having Karlsson out there, as he excels at holding the offensive blue line and has excellent vision.

But Grzelcyk’s decisiveness, simplicity, quick passing, and puck-moving ability on the power play make me wonder if he would excel in those situations as well.

– The Penguins probably need to win at least three, preferably four, of these final five games on the long road trip in order to stay in the thick of the playoff race.

The Los Angeles Kings – who they play Monday – are an extremely good team on home ice at 14-2-1 in their building. They then have four very winnable games against the Anaheim Ducks, the Kraken, the San Jose Sharks, and the Utah Hockey Club.

They need to bring their A-game in all of these matchups. If they play the way they did against the Capitals, good things should happen for them.