But that won't matter much once the puck is dropped. What will matter is whether the Penguins can recapture the tone they set in a 2-1 victory in Game 2.
The Penguins finished checks all over the ice and hemmed the Capitals in their zone for much of that game. Mario Lemieux feels as though his club strayed from its game plan at Mellon Arena.
Maybe returning to the MCI Center will help the Penguins recreate Game 2.
'Especially in the playoffs, it's easier to go on the road and establish your game plan and stick to it,' Lemieux said. '(Game 2) was our best game, obviously. We put a lot of pressure on their 'D.' I think that's something we have to do (today), especially early in the game. We need to dump the puck a little more and forecheck their defensemen. That way, our 'D' can move up on the play and read the play better and contain them better.'
Lemieux doesn't think the Penguins need to 'open up' their game. He is content to play a patient style, just like the Capitals. Taking risks would only help the Capitals, Lemieux believes.
'That's what they want,' he said, 'but we won't give it to them.'
TIBBETTS SENT DOWN
The Penguins weren't using winger Billy Tibbetts, so they sent him to their Wilkes-Barre farm club, where he'll be used plenty. Wilkes-Barre opens an AHL conference quarterfinal series Saturday against the Philadelphia Phantoms.
'I was disappointed that I was getting scratched for the playoffs, but I wasn't disappointed when (Penguins general manager Craig Patrick) told me I was coming down here,' Tibbetts said after Wilkes-Barre's practice Friday. 'I would be disappointed if Craig said he wasn't happy with me, but he said he is happy with me. He just wants me to be playing. I owe a lot to the Patricks. Whatever they want me to do is what I'm going to do. I'm basically in debt to them. That's the way I look at it. If they want me to run through that wall right there for them, that's what I'm going to do.'
Tibbetts played in 29 games for the Penguins this season, recording three points. He had 38 points in 38 games with Wilkes-Barre before the Penguins recalled him.
'Just to be a part of it, to get to know Mario on a personal basis, I feel like something pretty special happened to me,' Tibbetts said. 'Some of the other guys on that team, guys like Kevin Stevens and Marc Bergevin, guys that have been around for a long time, are really class acts. It was a great experience. I can't wait to get back there.'
BLOWING THE WHISTLE
All the happy talk about the officiating after Games 1 and 2 has turned to criticism. Both teams were displeased with the work of referees Paul Stewart and Dave Jackson in Game 4.
'It's hard to really predict,' Penguins winger Alexei Kovalev said. 'One game the referees are not calling anything, just letting us play. Then the other referee comes out and calls everything. ... It's just ridiculous.'
The Penguins thought two of the Capitals' power-play goals were questionable - one where Steve Konowalchuk cross-checked Darius Kasparaitis at the goal mouth and one where Dainius Zubrus slashed goalie Johan Hedberg on the arm before the puck arrived.
Capitals GM George McPhee told the Washington Post that he was upset with two late calls that allowed the Penguins to tie Game 4.
'Sometimes they give a team a chance to get back in the game - they throw 'em a power play,' McPhee said.
PLAY SMART
The Penguins reiterated yesterday that staying out of the penalty box is a major priority today. They have outscored the Capitals 5-1 at even-strength but have allowed five power-play goals.
Defenseman Janne Laukkanen has taken four minors in the series, three of which have led to goals.
'I think it's a little bit my stupidness, dumbness, to take those kinds of penalties,' Laukkanen said. 'I didn't mean to, but sometimes things happen. It was my fault. I take responsibility for it. I need to get smarter and not take them.'
STEVENS HURTING
Left winger Kevin Stevens left practice early yesterday because he aggravated a knee injury that has been bothering him for the past three weeks. Stevens, who has a sprained MCL, said he plans to play today.
'It'd be tough not to play in this one,' Stevens said. 'It's a little sore, but I'll play.'
Stevens is tied with Lemieux for the team lead in goals with two.
OATES DEMOTED
Capitals captain Adam Oates, who led his team in scoring this season, was benched for the latter part of Game 4 and skated yesterday on a fourth line with Trent Whitfield and Dmitri Khristich.
Oates, who has no points, a minus-3 rating and four shots in the series, chose not to make an issue of his demotion when reporters asked him about it.
'Coaches coach, and players play,' he said.
MAKE A PLAY
Laukkanen agreed that the Penguins defensemen are in such a defensive mindset that they are sometimes passing up opportunities to make solid breakout passes and chipping it off the glass, instead.
'Sometimes, if you get a little tired, you start throwing the pucks everywhere,' he said. 'I think we have to slow it down, turn and look at who's available and give it to him right away. At the end of periods, it's different. If you get a lot of pressure, you just throw it out. That's different, but I think we're doing it too much now.'
ROAD CHALLENGE
Although the Penguins have played well on the road this season, and it is sometimes easier to execute a patient game plan on the road, Kovalev would prefer to play at Mellon Arena.
'It's definitely tougher to play on the road,' said Kovalev, who scored 29 of his 44 goals this season at home. 'The ice might be different than what you're used to, and it's just a different feeling to be someplace else.'
SLAP SHOTS
Lemieux has never scored a playoff overtime goal. ... Defenseman Bob Boughner has not had a minus rating in 15 playoff games with the Penguins. ... Capitals center Jeff Halpern has done an excellent job against Lemieux. Halpern wasn't on the ice for either of Lemieux's goals in the series.
Archive
Monday, April 6, 2026
Monday, April 6, 2026
