Penguins fall to Capitals in OT, 3-peat bid over
The Trib's Kevin Gorman, Tim Benz and Jonathan Bombulie on the Penguins elimination from the pl
The Trib's Kevin Gorman, Tim Benz and Jonathan Bombulie on the Penguins elimination from the playoffs.
Winning the Stanley Cup, something the Penguins know better than anyone, is a grueling process that requires consistent greatness over a long, two-month grind.
Losing a Stanley Cup can happen in an instant.
Especially when overtime is involved.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored on a breakaway 5 minutes, 27 seconds into overtime to lead the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 series-clinching victory in Game 6 of the Metropolitan Division finals at PPG Paints Arena.
The loss ended the Penguins' hopes of becoming the first NHL team to win three consecutive Stanley Cup championships since the New York Islanders in 1983.
"It definitely stings," captain Sidney Crosby said. "You understand just how difficult it is and what a fine line it is between winning and losing. Everyone did what they could. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get it done."
For many in the Penguins locker room, young players like goalie Matt Murray and top scorer Jake Guentzel, it was a new feeling. Each of their previous NHL seasons ended with a parade.
"We haven't tasted this in a long time, and that's a credit to the group of players that are in that dressing room," coach Mike Sullivan said. "Because they've been a hungry group and they've accomplished so much. I couldn't be more proud of them as their coach because of that."
For veterans like Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, it hearkened back to the frustrating time in between the championships they won in 2009 and 2016 when the overwhelming feeling at season's end was wondering what could have been.
"I think we had a great chance to do it again with the team we have and the way we were playing," Letang said. "I don't think we got dominated by that team, but we have to tip our hat to that group. They capitalized on the chances they got. In a few years, yeah, we've done some great things, but we expect more."
For the Capitals, perennial Cup contenders who could never find their way out of the second round, it was a catharsis of epic proportions. Finally beating the Penguins, the team that stomped on their dreams three times before in the Alex Ovechkin era, brought elation.
"We beat the Pittsburgh Penguins," coach Barry Trotz said. "They're a hell of a hockey team. We're only half way (there). We haven't done anything yet, but it's a good feeling getting by the Penguins because there's a lot of skeletons in the closet. It's a start."
In a sense, the final play of the game looked familiar to the Penguins. The top-line duo of Ovechkin and Kuznetsov finished with lethal precision on a counter-attack. They did that all series long.
In another sense, it was different.
No reasonable person would have characterized it as a blunder by the Penguins. A Letang pass on a set breakout tipped off the edge of Crosby's reaching stick three times – on the backhand, then the forehand, then the backhand again – before finding a home on Ovechkin's blade.
The Capitals captain feathered a backhand pass up the middle of the ice to spring Kuznetsov for a breakaway he finished with a shot between Murray's pads.
"Obviously, I would have liked to handle it cleanly," Crosby said. "It wouldn't have been going back the other way if I did."
The bigger problem for the Penguins was a failure to create offense against a Capitals team dead set on clogging up the middle of the ice. Their only goal came on a Letang shot from the blue line off an offensive-zone faceoff win.
Playing on the road without second-line center Nicklas Backstrom and two other top-six forwards because of injury or suspension, the Capitals doubled down on their commitment to defense.
"We had to play really systematically. We had to be really smart and detailed," Trotz said. "I thought we had a good plan coming in and the guys believed in it."
Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.