WASHINGTON _ Grade this series on effort, and the Capitals would pass. Rely on the most mainstream ways to quantify offensive pressure _ shots on goal, attempted shots and scoring chances _ same deal. Evaluate things primarily on results, however, and the Capitals are failing.
As a result, they soon might be falling. Right out of the Stanley Cup playoffs. In what would be the ninth time in 10 playoff series all-time against the Penguins.
Washington outplayed the Penguins for long stretches of Saturday's Game 2 at Verizon Center, but failed to inflict enough damage where it really mattered: on the scoreboard. The Penguins were the much more opportunistic team, made the most of their chances and left here with a 6-2 win and a commanding, two-games-to-none lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
How much of a miracle do the Capitals need to not fade away?
Consider this: Of the 87 times an NHL team has lost the first two games of a playoff at home, only 18 have come back to win the series, a mere 21 percent. The Penguins also went 31-6-4 on home ice during the regular season and have won all three playoff games played there this season.
Game 3 is Monday at PPG Paints Arena.
Phil Kessel and Jake Guentzel each scored a pair of goals and enjoyed three-point nights. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Matt Cullen produced two-point nights.
Kessel was the Penguins' best skater, but he may not have been their best player. That honor likely went to goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who stopped 34 of 36 shots to continue writing the story of the playoffs.
Fleury was the only thing that kept this game from turning into a rout early on; early in the second period, the Penguins faced a 23-6 hole in shots on goal, a 48-11 deficit in attempted shots.
Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby suffered the opposite fate. He was yanked after two periods, allowing three goals on 14 shots.
Saturday's loss marked the first time all season the Capitals have suffered back-to-back defeats on home ice.
The win for the Penguins did come at a cost, however. Patric Hornqvist, Tom Kuhnhackl and Ron Hainsey all left the game with injuries after blocking shots.
Hainsey's appeared to be the most serious. He took an Alex Ovechkin one-timer to the back/side of his head in the third period.
Kessel stretched the Penguins' lead to 4-1 at 2:19 of the third period, on the power play, his second goal of the game and fourth of these playoffs. The perfect Kessel goal, too, curling out in the left circle and whipping a shot past backup Philipp Grubauer.
Nicklas Backstrom answered for the Capitals, finishing a rebound of Ovechkin's shot at 3:44, but Washington's jolt of momentum was short-lived.
Ian Cole's point shot glanced off of Chris Kunitz and then Malkin's skate for a 5-2 Penguins lead at 5:31 of the third period.
The Penguins talked following Saturday's morning skate about limiting Washington's power-play chances. That went out the door with four penalties taken within the first 22:15, the Capitals getting one power-play goal out of it.
After a horrendous opening period, Cullen got things going with a short-handed goal. Cullen won a puck from Kevin Shattenkirk and won a footrace with the premier blueliner before beating Holtby at 1:15 of the second period.
The lead was short-lived, however. At 2:09, all four Penguins penalty killers committed to one side of the ice. Matt Niskanen was all alone on the other and blasted an Ovechkin feed past Fleury to tie it at 1.
Yet another did-he-just-do-that play from Crosby led to the Penguins' second goal. Crosby feathered a puck between his legs entering the offensive zone, then zipped a pinpoint feed to Kessel in the right circle, his goal at 13:04 giving the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
Less magical was Crosby's work on the third Penguins goal, but it was no less important. Crosby started the sequence by blocking a Justin Williams shot, then tapping the puck ahead to Guentzel.
Guentzel and Bryan Rust enjoyed a two-on-one rush, but Guentzel kept the puck, shot it and beat Holtby for a 3-1 edge at 16:14.
Primary assists for Crosby on those two goals brought him to 148 playoff points, more than Jaromir Jagr (147) and fewer than only Mario Lemieux (172) in franchise history.
Washington thoroughly manhandled the Penguins in the first, running up a 16-5 edge in shots on goal and a 35-8 advantage when it came to attempted shots, but they couldn't push anything past Fleury.
Justin Schultz gifted Marcus Johansson one chance with an egregious turnover from behind his net. Lars Eller rang another puck off the post. T.J. Oshie sprung Backstrom with a thread-the-needle pass to the left circle, but Fleury again held strong during what might have been his best period of the playoffs.
Hornqvist was injured late in the period while blocking a John Carlson slapshot.
