Penguins Unable To Solve Capitals Defense In 4-1 Loss

The Pittsburgh Penguins did all they could Saturday to earn a win against the league’s best team in the Washington Capitals.

It just wasn’t enough.

Despite 56 shot attempts, the Penguins dropped a 4-1 contest to the Capitals in a well-played game. They trailed, 2-0, going into the third period, and they carried play for large portions of the evening.

Bryan Rust scored midway through the third to make it 2-1, and the Penguins had some momentum. But Kris Letang took a penalty with just over four minutes remaining in regulation, and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored on the resulting power play for the Caps.

Brandon Duhaime added an empty-net goal to seal the win.

Even though the Penguins came up short, there are still a lot of positives to take from the game – including the play of their rookie goaltender.

Joel Blomqvist surrendered three goals on 31 shots – none of which were bad goals – and he made a lot of big saves to keep the Penguins in the game, including one on a shorthanded breakaway by Tom Wilson in the third period.

“He was awesome,” Rust said. “He kept us in it there until the end of the game. He made some big saves at some key times. Obviously, he’s a really good goalie, so I’m sure he’s just going to keep building on that.”

Logan Thompson played well at the other end, and Rust’s goal broke a shutout streak for him that was over 160 minutes at that point. The Penguins got 19 shots through to Thompson, but the Capitals blocked 18 other attempts and thwarted any second-chance opportunities, making it difficult for the Penguins to get too many grade-A looks.

“They play hard,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “They play a straight-ahead game. They’re big and strong. They defend hard. It’s a hard game when you play against them. They’re a good team.”

Here are some thoughts and observations from Saturday’s loss:

– The Penguins’ penalty kill continues to be a massive problem right now.

Sullivan said that there were a few contested faceoffs that they could have done a better job on,…