On location: Capitals 3, Penguins 1

Let's hope the Pens can get a couple of goals - would be nice. Still not happy that 71 & 87 aren't on the PP together. I'll be dealing with the Caps broadcast crew tonight unless I turn down the sound and sync up Lange and the ol 29er.

Let's go Pens!

Holtby has had the Pens number this year. Pens need to rise to playoff level tonight. That means 87 and 71 must outplay 8. The powerless play must improve now. Will it be 3 shutouts in a row or will our stars play like stars? Should be an interesting game.

First game of the year that I actually consider it to be a big win/loss for the team. Trade deadline and playoff excitement is genuinely starting to brew.

Side note: first time posting and I will be looking to change payment from monthly to something more substantial soon. Love the site and app, DK.

Not fatalist bridge jumper, every teams has its flaws and strengths, but it would be nice to see a good performance against a Metro playoff contender.

As a Rangers fan, I was concerned when Hank got hurt. Now I think we can make a move in the east. Very interested in this game.

Hey there. Happy to see the Pens in their classic black sweaters.

I hope we realize that #8 will be in the left faceoff circle on their PP and get somebody in front of him to prevent his shot.

Why is Craig Adams playing, what a lazy giveaway to Ovechkin in his own zone? I play him back in slow motion and time actually goes backwards.

You have to wonder what dirt Craig Adams possesses and on whom.

Despres has 4 dead giveaways in the first 10 minutes of this period. The Pens haven't exactly come out flying yet as you would have expected them to considering the results of the first 2 games.

If the Pens don't start getting better results against these better teams, it may just not be their year. The sound management play may be to be sellers at the deadline if it can return high draft picks and/or good young prospects for the likes of P Martin B Comeau and C Ehrhoff

I've never heard B Errey sound so down on a Pens team. He understands they're totally outclassed tonight.

Bad luck on a bad change there

Game over. Pens shut out for 7 periods vs Washington so far. Lol.

Ovie clearly best player on the ice and it's not even close

Wow. Sick move by OV. Pens with s crummy turnover.

Don't look good so far tonight.

For those keeping score at home it's now Caps 8 Pens 0 this year

Pens played a pretty good period until the penalties moved the game the Caps way. Just have to stay out of the box!

Maybe the Pens breakout in the next two periods. But they sure have had problems scoring against the better teams of late - and it's not just the Caps.

It's interesting to see how many hits Ovechkin takes compared to Crosby.

Imagine that a dirty goal

NOW THAT'S HOW U DRIVE THE NET AND SCORE!!!!!!!

Great play by the much beleaguered 4th line.

4th line crashing the net and Crosby hustling, both good to see.

Now time for a PP goal

That's more like it! Letang is playing great hockey right now and Downie and Adams benefitted.

Holtby clearly doesn't like being touched. Pens need to keep "bumping" into him.

Here's a Penguins power play. They don't get many. Score tied. Malkin on bench.

Lapierre had 3 more checks on that shift then Goc did in two years

Every time your PP fails to score, your team deflates a little. Every time your opponent kills a penalty, it gets energized, more than a little.

Our PP is disgusting.

Not a bad game so far tonight. Hoping the Pens continue to show some mettle against divisional foes.

Fun read I found today...

http://thepensblog.com/2015-archives/colligan-5-questions-facing-washington-trade-deadline.html

Looks like Holtby is fighting the puck...should start peppering him with shots.

Another powerplay wasted AGAIN!!!!!

Can we please get Kunitz off the top PP?

Can they decline a penalty?

Everybody talked about how good the Pens played against the Hawks (and they did as a team) and they are playing pretty well tonight. BUT how can you say they play good games when you are getting no production from your top 2 lines?

This power play should
Never struggle like this. Some
Heat has to be put on the coaches. Especially Tockett (bad misspelling sorry)

Regardless of how this game turns out, the column from here tonight will be about the Penguins' power play. I hope to have it up by midnight, especially since I've got a sunrise flight to Bradenton.

No slash by Ovechkin, how convenient

Must be nice to skate around the ice knowing no one will ever check or slash you.

Well the next time Ovechkin gets the puck it should be interesting

Cue garage league discussion

5 on 5 pens look very strong, again. PP is a joke. That was an abomination trying to break out of the zone. Flower looks so good.

Well Ovie back to his dirty ways.
Don't care about the score.
Hit the great 8 every time he is on the ice, puck or not.
Don't care if every Pen but Flower and Greis are in the box.

OK, rant over.... but i am half serious.

Kunitz and Crosby on the 4 on 4 instead of Perron and Crosby. This Kunitz issue is almost becoming comical.

Well they'll be short handed again because of that Downie shot

Penguins losing composure.
Downie taking another stupid penalty

Hillen cross-checked Downie in the jaw first and then collapsed like he got shot. Embellish much?

Dont like complaining about officials because too many people use that as a Penguin excuse, but the Pens are getting the very short end of the straw tonight.

I think that was the spark that this team needed to get going!

Sorry but I don't see Kunni or BB as assets. Good luck boys

Fleury has been stellar, again!

Wow he just played the puck, that's a tough call

Composure gone

Anyone who thinks Steigy is a bad homer needs to listen to the Caps announcers. Unreal.

Same official who called penalty on Kunitz missed the two hander from Ovie on tanger

Classic. Ovi assaults Letang: Nothing. Kunitz hits a guy in the chest: Boarding.

Tomorrow's column should be about why Bettman is telling the officials to screw the Pens. This game is fixed. The NHL blows.

Ugh. Slick pass from Backstrom. Ward goal. Hmmm. Caps have 2 PP Goals tonight.

How can the same officials not call the most obvious slashing on Ove that almost killed Letang and then decide the game by calling one on Letang

Well here's the Pens chance

These refs are a joke. That was no penalty on Laich.

Get Kunitz off ice and get Hornqvist out there

There's your PP problem DK Letang never hits the net

Uggghhh :(

Please forgive this post game rant but the top two lines haven't produced a goal two games in a row and Crosby has been pointless half the games this year
- Crosby sucks
- Malkin sucks
- PP really sucks
- Coaching staff sucks
- My dog sucks
- Letang sucks as a PP quarterback
- My boss has always sucked

There I feel better now

Can't let the play affect your whole period. Bad loss. Have to get over jt.

8 was so much better than 87 tonight - Sid ate up 30+ seconds on that 6 on 4 being indecisive

The game is decided by a Letang slashing penalty. The irony! Those refs should be fined and suspended.

Also, all these games Ovi has shown up. Crosby and Malkin not so much

The game is decided by a Letang slashing penalty. The irony! Those refs should be fined and suspended.

SERENITY NOW!!!

Caufield says the 3rd period turns out different if Pittsburgh gets a powerplay from Ovechkin non-call. Different how, they can't score with the man advantage. 87 looked awful on that last powerplay.

Well that was seriously deflating. Quite a downer as the PP continues to stink and the Caps get 2. Well what to give up for Lent? Think the Pens started early with PP goals.

Completely agree with Jay Caufield on post game.... How do 2 officials miss that call? There is absolutely NO REASON that should've been missed

pretty sure looking at the box score and the penalty run down tells me all i need to know about this game. the pens lost their composure against a division foe at home and lost. seen this story before. new coach same results. until someone can get these guys to keep their heads on strait and can make appropriate adjustments against teams they see this often or maybe just get the players to execute those changes then i continue to expect more of the same. its not about kunitz basically being the same player he has always been and its not about craig adams getting a sweater. this is about learning to handle the tough gritty oponents and game styles you see in the playoffs and rising to the ocasion. teams that play that style against the pens always get the best of them.

2-7 vs other three Metro teams but 6-2-2 vs 4 Atlantic playoff teams. Finish 4th and hope to get into the Atlantic playoff bracket

please take my rant for what its worth. havent read the posts nor was i able to watch this one so i admittedly could be way off base here.

Tough loss. All in all, I thought they played well. Physical, pretty tight. It's a special teams game/league, and if you aren't getting the calls, you have to capitalize on the ones you get. If the powerplay gets back on track, the Pens will be fine.

Game was blacked out on NHL Center Ice because of our proximity to DC. So I watched the DC channel on mute (DC announcers are unbearable for a non fan). But no sound gave me a different perspective. And tonight, the better team won. Certainly the personnel/execution on the powerplay contribute to the lack of goals. Yet it's not like the stars have been lighting it up full stength against the top teams. But with injuries no longer an excuse, they will have to come up with something else.

Dejan, how are the Pens "built for the playoffs" when we're struggling to beat winning teams over the last few months?

Also, at what point does GMJR hold Tocchet accountable for the Pens' PP performance? At last count we have two Top 10 NHL forwards and a Norris candidate. Hardly scrubs.

First it was the injuries. Next the Mumps. Now the refs. Getting old all the excuses. They're a mediocre team.

At least Crosby isn't blaming the refs 1 goal in 9 periods against the Caps ain't gonna cut it.

Crosby needs to show more emotion. Man just want to see h get mad

it is time to fire someone.

If the season ended today, I'd pick the Caps to win the East. Defense = excellent; they roll 4 lines; key guys are thriving; well coached. They are built for the playoffs.

I'm wouldn't be overly concerned with this loss. Both teams played tough, I just think Caps had better goalie tonight. That's not to say anything negative about Flower, but Holtby had better game. Pens showed composure at a time when they had no reason to - that was a terrible non-call and I thought Pens handled it appropriately. PP is only thing that really worries me. A month ago I would have thought it would turn around, now I'm not so sure. It is just awful with no apparent strategy or direction.

Regardless of all pens related topics. How long is idea ovechkin being this intense goal scorer and not a dirty head shot artist

Well the Pens will probably finish 4 th in the Metro. They can't beat a Metro playoff team, all of whom seem to be clicking on all cylinders while the Pens spin their wheels.

If the slash/trip is called on Ovechkin I don't think the game degrades like it did, but good lord are the Penguins dead set on leading the league in penalty minutes.

Penguins don't have great secondary scoring or elite goal tending and need the PP to do something. Mario's golf buddy is out of ideas, if the team wants to pass the puck around just run an overload with Crosby on the goal line and Malkin at the side boards, Crosby doesn't want to shoot and is wasted on the side board.

2-7-2, outscored by 22, against the Capitals, Rangers, and Islanders, not good at all.

Ridiculous no-call. That`s all I have to say.

Hooray for Miss P. Beagles rule!

Isn't this when Dejan tells us its February and this is a meaningless regular season game

Sid and Letang have to come off the PP if this team is to have any chance. It will never happen. Early exit.

What excuses are left, folks? We can't beat the teams in our division. Period! Things can rapidly change in April, as we all have seen. But the concern is very warranted at this point. This team just lacks something. Maybe it's the fact that our two stars no longer dictate the outcome of games? I think it starts there. Everything else falls into place when your two superstars are dictating games. But that is no longer the case now. The role players now have to be even better. And because if that, the team is reduced to being ordinary and beatable. The rest of the top six is nothing special compared to other contending teams.

Yes the PP is killing them. Yes they need keep going to the net harder and god willig, find D men who can actually hit the net with point shots (its mindbending!) but for the love, lets not sit here and pretend the refs arent screwing this team, and instead figure out why and exactly WHAT is going on with that. Time to call a spade a spade. Totally unpopular opinion. Uncool to say out loud. Whatever. Its happening. Its been happening. Its real. Especially on home ice ironically. On pace for the fewest PPs in a season since they entered the league per Bob Errrey. What in the name is going on here? This team has found it hard enough to win playing on even terms. 5 on 9? No chance.