PITTSBURGH — Each time the Washington Capitals fail on multiple tries to clear the puck out of their zone or go lengthy stretches without firing a shot on goal, they damage their postseason hopes. It has become a predictable pattern.
Tuesday, in the second of consecutive games in as many nights against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Capitals spent two-thirds of the game in their own end and never came up with any offense in a 2-0 loss at Consol Energy Center.
Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 33 saves to hand the Capitals their second shutout in the past four games and secure Pittsburgh’s eighth straight win over them since January 2012. While losing back-to-back games to the rival Penguins would sting under any circumstances, Washington has now lost five of its last six games overall and is trending downward with only 15 games remaining in the regular season.
The Capitals, stuck at 70 points, now sit three points back of the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot, which currently belongs to Philadelphia. New Jersey moved ahead of Washington in the standings with 71 points thanks to a 2-1 victory over the Flyers, while Columbus defeated Detroit, 4-1, to assume third place in the Metropolitan Division and the guaranteed playoff berth that goes with it.
Unlike Monday’s 3-2 win by the Penguins, when the Penguins and Capitals combined for three goals in four minutes, there wasn’t an early outburst of goals on Tuesday despite a fluid first period. The teams played a stretch of 13 minutes 45 seconds without a whistle, but for Washington that equated to lengthy shifts in its own end.
With the Capitals struggling mightily to advance the puck, their defensemen were often stranded, unable to cycle through for line changes. By the end of the first period every blue-liner except John Carlson skated at least one shift of more than a minute, far from an ideal situation for a team playing in the second of back-to-back games.
After a wrist shot by Connor Carrick 3:55 into the contest, the Capitals played the next 13:13 without a shot on goal, further evidence of their inability to accomplish much but clear the zone. While the Capitals stalled, Pittsburgh pulled ahead.
Penguins forward Brian Gibbons smashed Mike Green on a forecheck to dislodge the puck. Dmitry Orlov recovered it but sent it directly to Evgeni Malkin, who danced past his fellow Russian to reinvigorate the Pittsburgh possession. Washington missed another opportunity to escape its own zone when Nicklas Backstrom poked the puck up the left side boards but it was kept in by Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi.
Orlov regained control of the puck with a chance to clear but turned it over to Malkin for a second time on the shift. The star center passed to the point where Matt Niskanen blasted a one-timer as Jussi Jokinen skated unchallenged through three Capitals for position in front of the net. Jokinen tipped the shot between golatender Jaroslav Halak’s legs for a 1-0 Pittsburgh lead at 16:41. Halak finished with 32 saves.
Falling behind didn’t bring about much change in the second period as the Capitals failed to put a shot on Fleury until 10:59 elapsed. When that shot did come, it was their best scoring chance of the game.
Evgeny Kuznetsov, playing in his second career NHL game, recovered a rebound on the left side of the crease and threw the puck on net with Fleury lying stomach-down on the ice. But the Pittsburgh netminder kicked his left leg up at the correct angle to deflect the shot away.
Aside from that, the Capitals failed to generate quality opportunities even though Coach Adam Oates rotated through line combinations frequently throughout the middle period. Alex Ovechkin took shifts with Jay Beagle and Marcus Johansson or Jason Chimera at different points, while Kuznetsov wound up with Backstrom and Joel Ward.
Even when the Penguins iced the puck on consecutive shifts in the final three minutes of play Washington couldn’t generate anything because it lost the subsequent faceoff both times. Through 40 minutes, Pittsburgh had more even-strength shots (13) than the Capitals’ total (12).
While the Capitals pushed in the third period, recording 20 shots on goal in the final frame, Pittsburgh was content to limit quality opportunities and protect Fleury. When Washington began sending its defensemen up ice aggressively, searching for a tying goal Sidney Crosby jumped up ice and sent a shot past Halak’s stick side for a 2-0 lead and the final dagger with 5:48 remaining.
Capitals notes: Brooks Laich went to see specialist Michael Brunt in St. Louis to tend to the nagging groin injury that has limited him the past two seasons and did not travel to Pittsburgh. He has missed 17 games this season and two of the last four because of the ailment. . . . Washington recalled center Casey Wellman and defenseman Patrick Wey from the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears. Wey was a healthy scratch.