PITTSBURGH _ The same message was repeated at every stall inside the Penguins dressing room from the moment it was announced that captain Sidney Crosby had a concussion and would be out for an undetermined amount of time.
We've been through this all year, Penguins players were reminded. There are capable people here. Plenty of offensive talent, too. Focus on Game 4. Look forward. No excuses. Just play.
The Penguins put that mindset _ drilled into them daily by coach Mike Sullivan _ into practice Wednesday during a 3-2 win over the Capitals in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at PPG Paints Arena.
In the process, the Penguins grabbed a 3-1 advantage in the series with a chance to clinch Saturday at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
Patric Hornqvist, Jake Guentzel and Justin Schultz scored goals, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 of 38 shots to help the Penguins to within one win of improving to 16-2 when they hold a 2-0 lead in a playoff series.
Without Crosby and with some new combinations up front, the Penguins adopted a more conservative style. Washington finished with a 38-18 edge in shots on goal, but the Penguins held a lead entering the third and didn't let it slip away.
During the past two regular seasons, the Penguins were 76-1-1 when leading after two periods.
Fleury was terrific yet again for the Penguins in earning his 60th career postseason win. A key moment came in the third period, around the 9:10 mark, when Lars Eller cut across the slot, and Fleury used his right pad for the stop and also denied Eller's rebound stuff.
After allowing a pair of power-play goals in Game 3, the Penguins also won the special teams battle. The Capitals were sloppy in taking a slew of offensive-zone penalties, while the Penguins went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and scored a man-advantage goal.
Their biggest special teams moment came at 18:00 of the second period. Matt Cullen was handed a double minor for high-sticking. It carried over to the third period and ended when Alex Ovechkin slashed Bryan Rust in the face.
Guentzel scored a fluke goal to make it 2-0 at 3:51 of the second period. Olli Maatta won a board battle, and Guentzel threw a harmless shot at the net. The difference was that it glanced off Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov's skate.
That's an NHL-leading eight goals in Guentzel's first nine playoff games; Wayne Gretzky had nine in 1981, Mario Lemieux 10 in 1989 and Maurice "Rocket" Richard 12 in 1944.
Evgeny Kuznetsov brought the Capitals back to within 2-1 at 7:21 of the second, a wrister from the left circle that beat Fleury stick side.
Nate Schmidt scored a similar goal to tie it at 8:33 of the second _ top of the left circle, beating Fleury this time high-glove.
Both goals were made possible by Penguins turnovers, an especially large problem for them during about a six-minute stretch in the second period.
Washington accumulated 10 of the first 11 shots on goal during the middle period.
To make matters worse, the Penguins power play had gone 0 for 8 over the past four-plus periods when Justin Schultz reversed that trend with the game-winning goal.
He blasted a one-timer from atop the left circle for a 3-2 Penguins lead at 11:24 of the third. The goal gave Schultz points in five of his past six games (two goals).
Hornqvist gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 4:39 of the first period with a rare, breakaway goal. The sequence started with Maatta contributing a fantastic breakout pass. Hornqvist split a pair of Capitals defenders and beat Braden Holtby high-glove.
As if that sequence needed some additional weirdness mixed in, the shift actually started with a battle between Carl Hagelin and Tom Wilson _ pretty much David versus Goliath, with better hair.
Capitals coach Barry Trotz got burned by leaving his less-than-blazing defense pair of Brooks Orpik and Karl Alzner on the ice together, part of the reason Hornqvist was able to break through.
Fleury was especially strong in the first period. He made 12 saves, including three in seven seconds late, stopping a T.J. Oshie shot from above the left circle, then rebound attempts from Marcus Johansson and Kuznetsov.
The Penguins got two power plays in the opening period. They generated next to nothing on the first and one sustained offensive-zone sequence on the second, scoring a goal on neither. It dropped them to one for 12 in the series.
Hornqvist was hampered by an Orpik shot that he blocked. He never left the bench but required a few additional minutes to shake it off.
