Kevin Gorman: For Penguins, losing to Capitals was about missed opportunities

With a chance to close the gap for first place in the Metropolitan Division, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals played the first period looking like playoff teams.

The Capitals resembled their 2018 Stanley Cup champions.

Unfortunately for the Penguins, it was their 2019 version.

Getting swept in the first round by the New York Islanders last spring should have been a wakeup call for the Penguins. They can’t solely rely upon speed and skill to win games.

How the Penguins could sleepwalk through the first period of such a pivotal game for division standings and playoff seeding is a mystery. Where the Capitals played tic-tac-toe to the tune of three goals, the Penguins could hardly muster a shot on goal.

The result was a 5-2 loss to the Capitals on Saturday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena, one that was all about missed opportunities. The Penguins went 1 for 5 on the power play — failing to score on a 5 on 3 that covered 1 minute, 25 seconds — missed a penalty shot and allowed a short-handed goal.

The Penguins repeatedly found themselves on the wrong end of odd-man rushes, where they left goalie Matt Murray defenseless against the Capitals’ crisscrossing passes.

Other than that, everything went pretty well.

“It’s a fine line at any point but especially this time of year,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “It’s very similar to the playoffs, where one little mistake and it’s in the back of your net. We’ve just got to understand that and make sure we limit them and give ourselves a chance. It’s an uphill climb when you’re down 3-0 against good hockey teams. We competed hard and gave ourselves a chance to get back in it, but that’s not a position you want to put yourself in.”

The Penguins could have cut the Capitals’ lead in the division to one point with a victory. Instead, Washington (89 points) has a five-point lead over the Penguins (84), who remain behind the Philadelphia Flyers for second place in the Metro and fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

“That’s not something we can really dwell on,” Crosby said, noting the Penguins host Carolina on Sunday. “We’ve got a lot of division games here the rest of the year. We’ve got to learn from it and move on pretty quick here.”

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan made an interesting decision by starting Murray in goal over Tristan Jarry. I would have preferred to see how Jarry handled a playoff atmosphere against an archrival. We know what Murray can do in the postseason.

It’s hard to fault Sullivan for picking Murray, as he was coming off a 4-2 victory at Buffalo on Thursday. The Penguins’ defensive breakdowns made the decision largely irrelevant.

Evgeni Malkin blamed the Penguins for playing “easy” because of a healthy complement of players on the top three lines and defense. The blame should include the stars, as Crosby missed more shots on net (three) than he made (two), Malkin was a minus-3 and defenseman Kris Letang a minus-4.

But it starts with the power play. When the Capitals were called for too many men on the ice with Brenden Dillon in the penalty box, the Penguins had a prime opportunity to tie the score.

Instead, the Penguins missed shot after shot. Patric Hornqvist sent one from the slot into the protective netting. Bryan Rust missed from the right, Malkin from the slot, Crosby on a point-blank rebound that sailed over Capitals goalie Braden Holtby’s left pad and through the crease.

The Capitals responded with goals by Nicklas Backstrom, who beat Murray’s glove side, and Richard Panik for a 3-0 lead. The Penguins got a break when Jonas Siegenthaler was called for hooking Jared McCann on a breakaway, but Holtby stopped McCann on the penalty shot.

The Penguins also failed to take advantage of Capitals defenseman John Carlson’s broken stick late in the second period. Holtby stopped Crosby’s shot by sweeping his left pad on a two-on-one feed from Conor Sheary. Dillon drew a delay of game penalty in the ensuing scrum with 24.1 seconds left.

That led to more misery for the Penguins.

They started the third period on the power play, only for former Penguin Carl Hagelin to chip the puck past McCann and set up Nic Dowd for the short-hander and a 4-0 lead.

To Sullivan, the solution is in playing with simplicity.

“We’ve got capable people. We’ve got the depth that we need. We try to utilize four lines,” Sullivan said. “It’s more about just collective effort, playing the right way and paying attention to the details. That’s what it boils down to.

“We’ve got to make better decisions, both with the puck and without the puck. When we do and we get locked in, that’s when we’re hard to play against. We’re a lot stingier, and that’s part of the fabric of the identity that we’re looking for moving forward.”

That identity should be of a Penguins playoff team, preferably one that has the fabric of the 2016 or ’17 versions.