Empty Thoughts: Capitals 5, Penguins 3

Observations from the Penguins’ 5-3 loss to the Capitals:

General manager Jim Rutherford could alter the composition of his roster and number of ways by the NHL’s trade deadline of 3 p.m. on Monday.

And if he did so, he’d be perfectly justified.

The Penguins are mired in a three-game losing streak, matching a season-high they endured in late October during the final days of the Erik Gudbranson era.

These Penguins can be improved upon with ease.

At the same time, they, the players, see themselves as heading in a good direction.

Among the players who spoke on behalf of the team following Sunday’s loss, to a man, they professed optimism out of this setback.

“Overall, I think we were the better team,” said forward Patric Hornqvist, ever the most resolute member of this roster. “We didn’t get the start we wanted to in the third period with that breakaway goal off the turnover. But that happens in hockey. We responded really well after that. We get the tying goal there then they scored on a scrum in front of the net to find the puck. That was the game for them. Overall, I think we were the better team.”

“I just thought we were the better team for most of the night,” goaltender Matt Murray said. “We controlled the play, played well defensively. So there’s a lot of positive stuff.”

The Penguins definitely played better than they did in the first two games of this losing streak, a 4-0 road loss to the Maple Leafs on Thursday and a 5-2 home loss to the Sabres on Saturday.

But the bar for improvement on those defeats wasn’t very high.

Regardless, the Penguins played much better and against a pretty good team. There’s reason to be pleased, albeit just incrementally, with this result.

“I thought we played real well,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “It was one of our better games in a while. We had a lot of really good moments in the game.”

What happened

The Capitals took the game’s first lead 6:12 into play. As Capitals forward Jakub Vrana lugged the puck through the neutral zone, Penguins’ defenseman Marcus Pettersson took a poor angle to defend him and allowed Vrana to drive into the offensive zone with the velocity of a comet. As Pettersson fell in trying to check Vrana from behind, Vrana attacked the net and lifted a wrister which goaltender Matt Murray denied. Pettersson spun out of control into Murray and the cage, striking the left post with his back in an awkward fashion and pushed the rebound into the net just before dislodging it.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Pettersson writhed in discomfort on the ice before retreating to the dressing room for a brief medical evaluation. Officials confirmed the goal after a quick video review. It was Vrana’s 24th of the season. There were no assists

The Penguins struck twice within a span of 26 seconds during the second period to claim their first lead of the game.

Their first goal came at 14:47 of the second period. Off a cross-ice saucer pass from Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin, defenseman Kris Letang swatted a one-timer from the left point which struck Capitals defenseman Radko Gudas in front of the crease. As goaltender Braden Holtby reached out to smother the rebound with his glove, Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist just barely beat him to it, chopping the loose puck into the cage for his 15th goal. Letang and Malkin netted assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Then, at the 15:13 mark, they went up 2-1. Gaining the offensive zone at center point, Penguins forward Jason Zucker veered to the right wing, drawing attention from Capitals defenseman John Carlson. That opened up space down the slot for Sidney Crosby to surge in off the left wing. As Capitals forward T.J. Oshie fell on a backcheck, tripping up Crosby, the Penguins’ captain was able to flick a backhander on net which Holtby denied. But as Oshie slid into the net, he caused the rebound to go into the cage for Crosby’s 13th goal. Zucker and Pettersson recorded assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

The Capitals tied the game, 2-2, at 1:16 of the third period. After a neutral zone turnover by Pettersson, Capitals forward Tom Wilson claimed the puck and charged into the offensive zone on a breakaway. Approaching the cage, Wilson tucked a backhander past Murray’s left skate for his 20th goal. Forward Nicklas Backstrom netted the lone assist.

(Video courtesy NHL)

A goalmouth scramble regained the lead for the Capitals, 3-2 at 4:41 of the third. Capitals defenseman John Carlson lobbed a wrister from the right point which Murray fought off but allowed a rebound on. After the puck struck Penguins defenseman Zach Trotman, Capitals forward Lars Eller crashed the crease and put the puck on net with a forehand shot. Murray denied that but could not fend off a second rebound attempt by former Penguins forward Carl Hagelin who lifted a wrister over the sprawling goaltender for his sixth goal. Penguins forward Teddy Blueger fell on Murray during the sequence. Eller and Carlson had assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

The game was tied once again at 8:50 of the third. Just as he was clobbered by Wilson near the Penguins’ bench, Penguins forward Bryan Rust left a drop pass for Malkin who raced into the offensive zone. Deking the puck through Carlson’s legs, Malkin attacked the net and lifted a wrister past Holtby’s blocker for his 21st goal. The lone assist went to Rust.

(Video courtesy NHL)

The Capitals took another lead, 4-3, at 10:40. After Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom beat Letang and defensive partner Jack Johnson to a dump-in behind the Penguins’ net, Capitals forward T.J. Oshie emerged with the puck to the left of the cage, lifting a backhander on net. Murray made the initial save but allowed a rebound as Vrana crashed in. Oshie settled the puck and put another backhander in the cage for his 25th goal.

(Video courtesy NHL)

At 19:13 of the third period, Hagelin scored an empty net goal to secure victory. Backstrom and Oshie collected assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins dominated shots, 36-23.

• Hornqvist led the game with six shots.

• Gudas and Wilson each led the Capitals with three shots.

• Letang led the game with 26:13 of ice time on 31 shifts.

• Carlson led the Capitals with 22:00 of ice time on 29 shifts.

• The Penguins had a 34-33 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).

• Malkin was 12 for 17 (71 percent).

• Backstrom and Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov were each 9 for 17 (53 percent).

• Johnson led the game with four blocked shots.

• Carlson and Gudas each led the Capitals with three blocked shots.

Historically speaking

• Malkin (1,064 points) surpassed former Penguins forward Joe Mullen (1,063) and former NHL forward Pat Verbeek (1,062) for 68th place on the NHL’s career scoring list.

• Letang appeared in his 800th career game.

• Rust appeared in his 300th career game.

• Hagelin, who spent parts of four seasons with the Penguins, scored his first goal against the Penguins since April 24, 2015. As a member of the Rangers, he scored a series-clinching overtime goal against goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 5 of a first-round series.

• Carlson (475 points) surpassed Calle Johansson (474) for most points by a defenseman in franchise history.

Randomly speaking

• At the conclusion of the first period, as Capitals forward Nic Dowd pinned Hornqvist to the ice. Malkin tried to pull Dowd off of his teammate and was greeted by Capitals defenseman Brenden Dillon.

Recently acquired in a trade with the San Jose Sharks, Dillon endeared himself to his new fans by confusing Malkin for an Everlast speed bag as he pummeled the Penguins’ star with several right punches. Each player received four minutes for roughing as a result of the fracas.

• After getting raced off the rink against the Maple Leafs and Sabres, the Penguins played really stiff defense in the first two periods as they allowed only 11 shots through 40 minutes.

• The Penguins had ample opportunity on the power play but went 0 for 3.

• Pettersson needed a hug or a beer or something after this game. He was in on three goals, two of them being scored by the Capitals. Plus, he probably a little beat up after being on the wrong end of a few collisions with a goal post and a few Capitals forecheckers. He’s had better days.

• If you feel rotten about the Penguins’ three-game losing streak, keep in mind that this win ended a four-game losing streak for the Capitals.

• Forward Andrew Agozzino was actually placed on waivers just before the game started, presumably to give the team an option to assign him to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tomorrow. Regardless, he was in the lineup, centering the fourth line. He logged 7:58 of ice time on 14 shifts, had one shot on one attempt and was 5 for 9 on faceoffs.

• Trotman remained in the lineup for the second consecutive game while Juuso Riikola was scratched once again.

• Forward Dominik Kahun participated in warmups for the second consecutive day but was once again a scratch. He is dealing with a suspected left leg injury.

Publicly speaking

• Pettersson blamed himself for the loss:

“We were better than the last two games. A couple of mistakes from me and it kind of cost us tonight. But as a team, we played well.”

• Murray did as well:

“It (stinks). I’ll take the blame on that one. If I make the save on that breakaway on Wilson, it’s a different game. That one is on me.”

• Sullivan had Murray’s back:

“We win as a team, we lose as a team. That’s the way it is. Everyone takes ownership for their own game. I appreciate Matt certainly taking ownership of his game. But we’re in this together. I’m sure when Matt analyzes his game, there’s some situations he would have liked to play better. We could say that about every guy on our team. That’s just the nature of our sport. What I did like was his compete, his battle level and his focus. I thought he was competing hard.”

• Sullivan also backed Pettersson:

These guys, they care. So certainly they take responsibility when it doesn’t go the right way. I’m sure Marcus would have liked to have the (Wilson goal) back. Marcus is a real good player for us. He’s played a lot of great hockey. We’ve got to learn from it and we’ve got to find ways to overcome those things.”

• Pettersson explained what happened on the opening goal:

“He’s fast. It was kind of a broken play at first. He kind of came out a little. I thought he was going to come out from the faceoff circle a bit harder. I didn’t know if I was going to play it or back off. I was kind of in between. He’s fast but I think I’ve got to play a little bit better.”

• Dominik Simon was succinct on the Penguins’ predicament:

“It’s three loses in a row. It’s no good. We have to stop the bleeding and do it as soon as possible.”

• Hornqvist is optimistic:

“It’s not fun right now. But at the same time, we did a lot of good things. Bring that with us here out west and stop the bleeding and go from there.”

• Carlson had an interesting way of explaining Penguins-Capitals:

“Before anything even happens in the game, you can just feel the energy in the building is a lot different against them than against any other team.”

• Dillon on his brawl with Malkin:

“I like to play hard, especially against those top-end guys. Malkin is a heck of a player. He plays a physical game sometimes too. With these rivalry-type games, sometimes tempers run high.”

• Crosby and Malkin each offered congratulations to Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin for reaching 700 career goals on Saturday:

“It means a lot. We all respect each other. We’re all happy for each other if somebody sets a record or sets a milestone. That’s why we play hockey.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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