Washington Capitals blow another chance to put a scare into the Pittsburgh Penguins

Scott BurnsideESPN Senior Writerhttp://espn.go.com/nhl/May 5, 2016

The game-winning goal by Pittsburgh Penguins' Patric Hornqvist, not shown, gets under the pads of Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (70) with Matt Niskanen (2) and Mike Weber (6) defending and Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) working to redirect a shot during the first overtime period of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference semifinals against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, May 4, 2016. The Penguins won in overtime 3-2. (Gene Puskar/AP)

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Riddle me this: If the Washington Capitals, the NHL's best regular-season team by a country mile and a team seemingly built for its best chance at Stanley Cup glory, cannot beat an injury-depleted Pittsburgh Penguins team in a crucial test, what hope do they have to win three straight to stay alive in these playoffs?

Anyone?

The simple answer in the wake of the Penguins' dramatic 3-2 overtime victory Wednesday is that the Capitals, for all their resolve and success and talent, are once again staring into the abyss.

That's how good the Penguins are proving to be, no matter who is in their lineup. And that's how big an opportunity the Capitals let pass in Game 4, a game that was fully set for the taking but which still somehow eluded them, just as previous playoff successes have always seemed to settle just outside their grasp.

"Those are always tough," Capitals head coach Barry Trotz said after Patric Hornqvist earned the Penguins a 3-1 series lead just 2:34 into overtime by taking advantage of a Mike Weber giveaway to beat goaltender Braden Holtby.

"That's why it's sudden death," he said. "That's what it feels like. We'll have to deal with it."

Before Game 4, the water-cooler talk wasn't so much about whether the Capitals would win and tie the series at 2-2 as it was about by how big a margin.

They had finished Game 3 on a high note, including dominating the Penguins in shots, shot attempts and hits -- everywhere but the scoreboard, as they lost 3-2. Further, star Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, who is averaging 29:14 a night in ice time and a catalyst to the Pens' quick-strike, lightning-paced attack, was suspended for Game 4 for his high hit on Marcus Johansson in Game 3.

Eric Fehr, who scored the winner in Game 2, was out of the lineup, and so was top-four defenseman Olli Maatta.

In the end, it didn't matter to the Penguins, who got goals from three players for the second straight game to hand the Capitals their third straight loss. They did not lose two games in a row in regulation all season.

"We're not discouraged by it," defenseman Karl Alzner insisted in the Capitals' locker room.

"We said it in the room. They were going to play better than they did last game with those guys out," he said. "It was a good game by them. They held on tight. They made the plays when they had to make the plays."

It's not that anyone expected the Penguins to take a knee. But wasn't this the kind of game that was especially built for the Capitals?

This series has been a rollicking, jalopy ride of high skill, rock-hard physicality and nastiness, and terrific goaltending. Game 4, the fourth straight one-goal affair, had all of those elements once again. So how is it that the Penguins seem to have that steely resolve, that killer instinct, if you will, and the Caps seem to not possess it?

"I mean, whenever you lose a game, it's obviously an opportunity missed," Capitals center Jay Beagle said. "It had nothing to do with them missing some of their players. It was just a matter of we needed to win the game and get the split here and then head back to our barn. But now looking forward, our backs are against the wall and most important games of our lives coming up."

This isn't to say the Capitals won't win Game 5 on Saturday. As Penguins captain Sidney Crosby noted, both sides have lots of experience with a series that is 3-1.

"They're a good team, and they have been all year for a reason," said Crosby, who started the play that led to the overtime winner and also added an assist on the Penguins' first goal, his first point of the series.

"Being in this position, I think a lot of us have been on both sides of a 3-1 series," he said. "I think that you understand that when you got a team in that position, you've got to take advantage of it, take advantage of that opportunity. It's always the most challenging one."

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If it comes as a surprise to observers and fans that the Caps are on the brink this quickly, I wonder, in fact, if it is a surprise to a Capitals team that really hasn't been tested or pushed in the way it has been tested and pushed in this series.

"We just didn't cash in at the big moment," said Washington defenseman John Carlson, who scored the Caps' second goal late in the second period. "Something we're going to have to do. At this point, you lay it on the line, and that's not good enough. And now we've got to reach back and dig deeper, work harder and lay it on the line a little bit more next game."

A year ago, the Capitals led the New York Rangers 3-1 in their second-round series. They could not close the door and lost Game 7 in overtime at Madison Square Garden.

Two years ago, the Penguins blew a 3-1 series lead against the Rangers in a second-round series.

It happens. And it might yet happen here.

But given what happened in Game 4, it seems highly unlikely.

"I think this team has lots of character," Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said. "Last year, we were winning 3-1, and we lost the series, so we have to take that experience and turn it around our way. I think it sucks. We wanted to tie the game and tie the series, but overall, I think we have to play our game."

The problem for the Capitals is their game might just not be enough -- not against these Penguins.

Steelers came in like a wrecking ball to rebuild defense

Jeremy FowlerESPN Staff Writerhttp://espn.go.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/May 5, 2016

Artie Burns

The Pittsburgh Steelers made the NFL draft -- again -- a defensive affair. If the plan works, they won’t have to in 2017.

The defensive rebuild should be entering the final stages, or at least the drywall phase. The proof is in the investment. Since 2013, the Steelers have used seven of their eight picks in the top two rounds on defensive players, and 10 of 17 picks in the top four rounds.

That's four good years of heavy defensive drafting. Most of the starters from the 2012-13 teams are no longer in those roles. In fact, Lawrence Timmons is the only steady defensive contributor who's started each of the last five years in Pittsburgh.

The offense can’t bend much more without replenishment. This defensive plan has to work.

But now the Steelers’ defense under second-year coordinator Keith Butler has a clear-cut identity -- young, fast and big.

Young, because the roster could have at least six starters at age 23 or younger.

Fast, because the past three first-round picks -- linebacker Ryan Shazier, outside linebacker Bud Dupree and cornerback Artie Burns -- are considered speedy for their positions, all classified as the proverbial combine freak.

Big, because last week’s top two picks, Burns and Maryland safety Sean Davis, are sizable cover men, Burns at 6-foot and Davis at 6-1.

The Steelers needed this injection of youth and athleticism after the turnover from accomplished, Super Bowl-winning veterans, some of whom were getting too old (except James Harrison, apparently). Incrementally, they are improving. Last year’s Steelers were among the league’s best in sacks (48) and rushing defense (3.8 yards per carry).

But Burns, Davis and 2015 pick Senquez Golson panning out would tie everything together.

Here are a few ways that might happen if the players fulfill their promise.

LET ARTIE BE ARTIE

There’s no guarantee Burns will be ready to start Week 1, but watching Burns conjures memories of Ike Taylor manning one side of the field as a cover corner.

That’s defensive backs coach Carnell Lake’s comparison, not mine. And it makes sense. Burns, the 25th overall pick out of Miami, is a pure bump-and-run corner, just like Taylor, who could match up against the defense’s best receiver each week.

The Steelers simply haven’t had that in a while, forced to run zone coverages with corners playing "off" coverage, or a good 8 to 10 yards in front of the receiver.

“If need be, we’ll play him like that,” Lake said. “Hopefully we can develop Artie’s tools in other areas, as well.”

Burns can learn the nuances of Pittsburgh’s zone, but Burns’ defensive coordinator at Miami, Mark D’Onofrio, knows where Burns best fits in a defense.

In press coverage.

“Even if we were playing zone, three deep, we usually pressed [Burns] into the boundary,” D’Onofrio said. “He was always our boundary corner. We wanted to take care of that with him.”

Sean Davis

BALANCED ATTACK

The theme of the weekend was "versatility." That was the buzzword from both Lake and head coach Mike Tomlin.

They seem to love the versatility of Davis, who has corner and safety experience despite his 6-1, 201-pound build (and believe me, he’s every bit of 201 -- he looks bigger than that in person). He should provide much-needed help against bigger receivers and tight ends as a strong safety partner with free safety Mike Mitchell. "When the ball broke loose, he made a lot of tackles [in college]," Lake said of Davis.

Tomlin promises the Steelers must have variety as a defense to thrive in 2016. And you get versatility with speed and smarts, something the Steelers believe they have with both players. Burns, in particular, is a “football kid” who asks a ton of questions after every meeting, D’Onofrio said.

At the least, the Steelers should have more personnel with which to experiment. The secondary often looked worse than it actually was because opposing offenses were playing from behind. But the depth is such that young players have to see the field early and often.

“We play some half field, some single high safety, some man to man,” Tomlin said. “All of those things will be required to have a balanced attack. We’ve got to have versatility.”

PICK SIX (OR MORE)

Tomlin cited "tangible evidence" when addressing the 2015 draft and the selection of three defensive backs with a combined 29 interceptions in college the previous year. Those three players haven’t done much of anything in Pittsburgh. Seventh-round safety Gerod Holliman was cut in camp, fourth-round corer Doran Grant returned for a limited role after being cut and Golson missed the entire season with a torn labrum.

The 2015 Steelers didn’t need those players to rank in the NFL’s top 10 with 17 interceptions, up significantly from the previous year. This was an opportunistic group.

But since this is the second straight year the team’s top drafted corner led his conference in interceptions -- Burns had an ACC-high six picks last year -- perhaps the Steelers can strengthen that team total even more.

The Steelers, in most cases, want proven commodities over projections. That must pay off with winning plays from young defensive backs.

A good sign: Davis wants to cover tight ends, a problem area for Pittsburgh a year ago. The Steelers could use a linebacker to disrupt the rhythm of the big receiver, then have Davis waiting in coverage.

“That’s where I feel my skill set comes in handy,” Davis said. “I’m big as a safety, strong as a linebacker but as fast as a corner.”

To short-circuit Caps, Crosby, Malkin need to jolt Pens

By Chris Mueller

http://www.timesonline.com/sports/

May 4, 2016

Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby (87) carries the puck during the second period of Game 3 against the Washington Capitals in an NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference semifinals in Pittsburgh, Monday, May 2, 2016. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Calling it a desperate situation would be inaccurate. Any team up two games to one in a best-of-seven playoff series isn’t desperate. And yet, the Penguins find themselves leading the Capitals, halfway to a series victory, yet surrounded by dark clouds.

The immediate thunderhead threatening to open up on their collective heads is the one created by Kris Letang’s one-game absence. Letang is arguably the Pens’ most important player, a workhorse regularly logging 30 minutes or more of ice time every night. Letang is a one-man breakout, a mistake eraser defensively, and an asset whose talents are not closely approximated by any of his replacements.

Letang’s suspension leaves the Penguins in the lurch, lacking their best defenseman, as well as Olli Maatta, who may well be out for some time after taking a vicious hit from Brooks Orpik that earned Orpik a three-game ban.

The other storm, and perhaps the more troubling one, took the form of a dominant territorial effort from the Capitals in Game 3. The Penguins, despite only forging a split in Washington, had reason to feel good about themselves as the series shifted back to Pittsburgh. One win later, it’s fair to question if they were put on notice by Washington.

The Caps took the fight to Pittsburgh from the opening faceoff. Under siege would be a clutch performance, coupled with superlative, historic goaltending by Matt Murray, that saved the day for Mike Sullivan’s squad.

Thought a runaway freight train by many, myself included, the Penguins were beaten in every way except on the scoreboard. If Washington comes out with a similar effort tonight, envisioning a Penguins victory is almost impossible. Envisioning them winning two of three from a suddenly confident President’s Trophy winning outfit also becomes more difficult.

Sounds ominous, doesn’t it? The gathering storm seems like the type that might only intensify with time and end up washing the Penguins right out of the postseason. Thing of it is, the Pens have two guys very uniquely qualified to part the clouds and make things sunny once again.

Their names are Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and it’s understandable that you might have forgotten about them if you’ve only been looking at point totals through these three contests. Combined, they have one assist, Malkin’s, and nothing else.

They aren’t playing noticeably poorly, though neither one, along with everyone else on the team not named Matt Murray, was good in Game 3. Crosby and Malkin aren’t run-of-the-mill guys, though. They are players for whom mediocre outings are rare, and cause for discussion.

They need to be better, bottom line.

This is superstar time. The outlook approaching Game 4 is somewhere between sub-optimal and flat-out bad. One third of their top talent is going to be sitting in the press box while the team tries to put a stranglehold on the series, and do so in more authoritative fashion. It is time for Crosby and Malkin to make their imprint on the proceedings. Those two dominating shift after shift would take pressure off of a beleaguered, short-handed defense corps. It would send a message right back to the Capitals. Most of all, it would help the Penguins get back to the style of play that made them so tough for the last two months of the season, and for the majority of these playoffs.

It can’t just happen on the power play, where the Penguins have yet to score in this series. It needs to be a mindset, something that permeates the entire game. It needs to be the kind of dominance that both tilts the ice and shows up on the score sheet.

Alexander Ovechkin was a thunderous presence all over the ice on Monday night. The Penguins didn’t beat him so much as they survived him. He and his teammates are probably the furthest thing from panicking right now. The only thing they don’t have is the series lead.

That belongs to the Penguins, and if the birds want to head back to Washington in command, having short-circuited the gathering storm, a few lightning strikes from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin would go a long way.

Their best effort wasn’t good enough. Can the Capitals now do it again?

By Dan Steinberg

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/

May 2, 2016

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH — After two mediocre showings last week, the Washington Capitals promised a better effort as their second-round playoff series shifted to Pennsylvania. They instead delivered domination. Washington more than doubled the Pittsburgh Penguins’ shot total. The Capitals threw not just a few wrenches but some screwdrivers and pliers into Pittsburgh’s offensive machine. They blitzed a young netminder, hovered around his net and managed to crescendo their already fierce attack into a final-minute symphony of chances.

“They had the puck all night and we didn’t,” Pittsburgh Coach Mike Sullivan said.

“That’s our game” Washington Coach Barry Trotz said. “If we can stay with that game, that’ll be our game.”

Here’s the punchline: Washington lost, 3-2. And so, domination or not, the Capitals are staring at the ledge. Another loss here Wednesday night, and they’ll be teetering over that edge, trying to grab at any outcrop or Terrible Towel on their way down. Their effort in Game 3 reeked of urgency. Now they have to do it again.

[Best and worst moments from the Capitals’ loss to Penguins in Game 3]

“You just do the right things and you keep pounding the rock; you pound the rock and you’ll get results,” Trotz said. “You’ve just got to believe in your plan. I think we believe in our plan.”

On this night, though, the plan didn’t come through. The culprits were easily identified: a few devastating defensive lapses, a couple of bad bounces, and a young goalie named Matt Murray, who made a career-high 47 saves. Washington fell behind early thanks to a pair of fluke goals: one after the Penguins retrieved a floating puck in their offensive zone and another off the back of Tom Kuhnhackl, whose shoulder blade has somehow become as dangerous a weapon as Alex Ovechkin’s stick blade.

Such flukes balance out over an 82-game season. They can be debilitating in a short series, when the hockey gods can’t promise a payback goal off Daniel Winnik’s rear end. And as well as the Capitals played Monday, they’ll be forced to replicate the effort in a game with greater stakes.

“You can’t really focus on the results of this one; you’ve got to focus on what we did,” Washington goalie Braden Holtby said. “In order to win a seven-game series, you have to make sure you have that every single game. Sometimes the pucks aren’t going to go your way. That’s hockey. That’s life in general. It’s just that way. So we have to battle back next game and make sure we have the same effort, the same focus.”

If you ignore panic and fear, there’s every reason to think the Caps should fare well on Wednesday. Their relentless Game 3 push created too many terrific chances to count: T.J. Oshie in front of the net, Nicklas Backstrom on a succulent rebound, Justin Williams off the goal post, Oshie and Ovechkin on the doorstep, a hailstorm of lasers in the dying minutes.

Then there’s the matter of Kris Letang, Pittsburgh’s best defenseman, who managed to do the one thing he absolutely needed to avoid: launching his shoulder into the head of a puckless opponent.

[Kris Letang’s hit on Marcus Johansson has Capitals hoping for justice]

Marcus Johansson returned to the game after taking that blow, which in the wacky world of NHL justice may lessen Letang’s punishment. But after Washington’s Brooks Orpik was given a three-game suspension for a similar offense, and after Trotz already suggested the league was showing favoritism to Pittsburgh, it’s possible Letang might be missing on Wednesday. Pittsburgh’s record without Letang this season? Try 2-8-1.

The problem is the Capitals have now already delivered the performance they’d been promising, and it didn’t lead to a win. They discombobulated Pittsburgh’s fluid offense, which was almost never dangerous. They sent traffic and pucks to the net. Their passing was crisper, and their physical play more effective. This was the showing they had talked about Monday morning.

“We have yet to play our best hockey,” forward Tom Wilson said then. “We know that we can play better, and when we do, watch out, because it’s going to be a pretty mean Caps team once we put it all together here.”

They put almost all of it together on Monday, especially in the offensive zone. But Pittsburgh’s first goal came on a bouncing deflection after Washington couldn’t get the puck out of its zone. Its second goal came after Nicklas Backstrom failed to control a puck in the neutral zone. Its third goal came when Nate Schmidt was unable to clear a puck.

“Got beat by a couple unlucky bounces,” Holtby said.

“A couple lucky bounces,” forward Marcus Johansson offered, reversing the description.

Perfection might be too much to ask, but the fluke goals came on real chances that Washington could have snuffed out before they developed.

And while the Caps rallied so often in the regular season — once erasing a 3-0 deficit against these same Penguins — their late onslaughts haven’t been rewarded in the postseason. The Caps are now 1-4 in the playoffs when giving up the first goal and 0-4 when trailing after two periods. That’s a reversal from the regular season, when they rallied to win or force overtime 11 of the 22 times they faced a second-intermission deficit.

They also continued to have issues with discipline, with Williams taking two offensive-zone penalties. And they haven’t rattled the 21-year-old Murray, who has stopped 60 of the last 62 shots he faced. Goaltending was supposed to be one of Washington’s big advantages in this series. Murray has upended that assumption.

[Rookie goaltender Matt Murray becomes a difference-maker for the Penguins]

Again, the Caps played well enough to win, no matter what the scoreboard read. If they continue to outshoot the Penguins like that — the tally was 49-23 on Monday — they will win eventually.

“Eventually,” though, has a limited lifespan in the postseason. The Caps came to Pittsburgh looking for a split, and despite their incessant attack in Game 3, they’re now out of wiggle room. That takes us to the issue of urgency, one of Trotz’s buzzwords.

“You can’t create urgency sometimes,” Trotz said of the Philadelphia Flyers, when they staved off elimination in the last round. “They don’t have any room for error, and that allows you to play at a level that is an extreme.”

The Caps played well on Monday, certainly well enough to win. But a few mistakes, a brilliant goalie and a fourth-liner’s goal-scoring back meant good enough wasn’t enough. By Wednesday, Washington’s room for error will be smaller, and their already frantic level had better move closer to extreme. Because it’s a lot harder to remain optimistic when you’re one step closer to the ledge.

Nick Bonino, Carl Hagelin help opportunistic Penguins slide past Capitals

• by Brian Metzer Times NHL Correspondent
• • 
    

http://www.timesonline.com/sports/

May 3, 2016

Kevin Lorenzi/The Times

PITTSBURGH -- The Penguins have shown an ability to win games a number of different ways during this postseason run. They can win the tight-checking, low-scoring affairs and they can win the scoring sprees.

Monday night saw them win a Game 3 in which they were significantly outshot, but were opportunistic in their attack and weathered a late Washington Capitals storm to win 3-2.

The Capitals threw everything at the Penguins, rolling up a 14-8 advantage in shots through the opening period and a 28-14 difference through two. For the game, they outshot the Penguins by better than 2-to-1 margin, at 49-23.

“I think we outshot them the first couple games,” forward Nick Bonino said. “The team that gets the most shots doesn’t always win. We’ll take them when we can get them. That’s not the blueprint for a win for us."

Bonino and his linemates did what they have done for most of the second half of the season. They worked hard in the offensive zone and found a way to score a goal that went down as the game-winner.

Phil Kessel started the play, sliding into the high slot to pick off an errant clearing attempt from Capitals defenseman Nate Schmidt. He made a quick read and saw Bonino standing in front of goaltender Braden Holtby.

Bonino spun and took a quick step to his right, before somehow finding Hagelin in front of the net for a tap in.

Was it a lucky bounce? Maybe, but they don’t come easily and often require some hard work.

“Definitely, you’ve got to work hard for them,” Bonino said. “Phil was in a great spot above the puck like we need to be and picked it off, made a good read and made a good pass.”

The 28-year-old Bonino has been called a cerebral player by his coach and many of his teammates.

“He’s one of the smartest guys I’ve played with in the NHL,” defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. “He’s able to make plays with his skill and his brain. He’s not the fastest skater. But he is always in the right position, both offensively and defensively. He is able to move guys around with his skill and with his mind.”

He showed all of those traits on this goal. He sized up the situation, thought about shooting the puck, before realizing that moving the puck to Hagelin would be the more prudent play.

He took a defender with him as he cut toward the goal line and slid a backdoor pass to Hagelin.

“I was thinking shot right away,” he said. “After I didn’t [shoot] I knew he would beat me to the post. I thought about going to [Hagelin] right away and I thought their 'D' would be right on him. I tried to be a little patient and let [Hagelin] use his speed to get to the net, and he beat his man.”

That wasn’t the only lucky bounce that went the Penguins' way. You could say that was the case all night long, as loose pucks skidded wide of their goal on the few occassions that Capitals shots evaded goaltender Matt Murray. Across the rink, they were the recipients of good bounces.

Their first goal was created when defenseman Trevor Daley fired a shot into traffic that was deflected by Patric Hornqvist. Their second was the result of a Matt Cullen pass deflecting off Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen’s stick, then off Tom Kuhnhackl and behind Holtby.

That's the thing about playoff hockey: It doesn’t have to be pretty. It doesn’t have to be clean. You simply have to take what is given to you and find ways to win hockey games.

“Yeah definitely wasn’t our 'A' game,” Bonino said. “One guy brought it, and he was in the net and he saved the game for us. We allowed 50 shots. We haven’t allowed that many shots in a long time and we knew that they would be desperate.

"We were opportunistic tonight. We scored on some of our chances and we’ll limit our mistakes next game. We have to.”

Sensational Matt Murray wins Game 3 for Penguins – and the better team loses

By: Matt Larkin on May 2, 2016

http://www.thehockeynews.com/

(Getty Images)

So much for messing with Matt Murray’s head.

That was the concern, at least in this corner, upon learning the Pittsburgh Penguins would dress their usual starting goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, for Game 3 of the Metro Division semifinal. Fleury hadn’t played since March 31, when he sustained his second concussion of the 2015-16 season. Fleury earned a clean bill of health after missing the Pens’ first seven playoff games, and coach Mike Sullivan dressed Fleury as a backup to Murray Monday night.

There were two risk factors there. For one, was it worth bringing Fleury back if he wasn’t going to start anyway? Why not rest him further in that case? And secondly, what would Fleury’s presence do to Murray’s psyche? It would only be human to look over his shoulder a little bit with the franchise’s all-time wins leader sitting a few dozen feet away in full gear.

But Murray’s response to a potential obstacle was quite decisive and strong: he brought it. Murray, a rookie playing his sixth career post-season game, stopped 47 of 49 Washington Capitals shots, carrying the Penguins to a 3-2 home victory in Game 3. Pittsburgh now leads the series 2-1. Murray faced at least 14 shots in every period, including a whopping 21 in the third, but weathered the storm. He didn’t make any 10-bell saves that will litter highlight reels for weeks to come, but he was consistently solid. He continues to show a knack for tracking the puck in heavy traffic.

Murray showed no signs of someone intimidated by Fleury’s presence and, in hindsight, I should’ve expected nothing less. Murray’s first career post-season start came at Madison Square Garden opposite Henrik Lundqvist, and Murray got a shutout. When I spoke to Penguins GM Jim Rutherford and associate GM Jason Botterill about Murray at different points this season, both stressed Murray’s mental toughness, short memory after goals and exemplary ability to overcome adversity. Murray is the Penguins’ No. 1 prospect in THN Future Watch 2016 for a reason. He will make things interesting for their front office this off-season and beyond. Has he played well enough to make Fleury trade bait?

But that’s a question for another day. The more pressing question: what should we make of Pittsburgh’s victory in Game 3? Do we accept that a win is a win, or should Sullivan be legitimately concerned going forward?

The Capitals dominated the play in Game 3. They outshot the Penguins 49-23 and posted an absurd 85-36 Corsi margin. We can’t simply blame the lopsided numbers on a late-game onslaught, either, as the Caps dominated the chances in the first period, too. Washington captain Alex Ovechkin started the game slowly but was a man on a mission in the third. He finished with a goal, an assist, seven shots and nine hits.

It’s not that one game of Washington dominance should petrify Pittsburgh. The shot attempt margins are actually quite uncharacteristic of this team under Sullivan. The Pens have been the best possession squad in the league other than L.A. They should revert to their tight-checking ways in theory. The bigger problem is personnel. Pittsburgh already lost Olli Maatta, its second-best blueliner, in Game 2 on a hit from Brooks Orpik, and there’s no timetable yet for Maatta’s return. Kris Letang could wind up suspended for a big hit on Marcus Johansson in Game 3. The Pens without their best two D-men against arguably the sport’s most fearsome offensive club does not bode well for Game 4 – and beyond, depending on Maatta and Letang’s availability for the rest of the series. Letang has arguably been their best skater altogether so far in the playoffs. They need him badly.

One game does not make a series, and the Penguins looked great just two nights earlier, but a lot has changed since then. Murray was forced to steal Game 3 and may have to keep playing that way if Pittsburgh enters Game 4 minus its two most important defensemen. This team suddenly looks more defensively vulnerable than it has in months. The Caps are thus far from out of this series.

Matt Larkin is a writer and editor at The Hockey News and a regular contributor to the thn.com Post-To-Post blog. For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, subscribe to The Hockey News magazine. Follow Matt Larkin on Twitter at @THNMattLarkin