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.
