In Pittsburgh. the Penguins lost their fourth straight game on Saturday afternoon, 6-3, to the Washington Capitals.
The Penguins took a 3-2 lead into the second period.
Washington scored four straight to earn the win.
Tom Wilson scored the go ahead goal in the third period.
“On the road, often you have to come together as a group to get it done,” Wilson said. “You’re out on the road and playing in a loud building. That felt like a playoff atmosphere. The rink was loud. There was a lot of energy. To come together and play well in that type of game is encouraging down the line.”
Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves in the Caps win.
Evgeni Malkin scored for Pittsburgh.
“Tonight, for me, was a different story than some of the other games,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “Tonight, we just weren’t good enough. We didn’t play well enough. We didn’t execute. We were careless with the puck. So tonight, we beat ourselves in a lot of ways.”
Bryan Rust, Jeff Carter, and Brian Boyle scored for Pittsburgh in the opening frame.
“We weren’t good enough to win,” Boyle said. “Played well for two periods. Then we weren’t good enough to win. That’s just not OK at this time of year. … Come playoff time, I don’t care how we play. We have to get wins.”
Marcus Johansson and Dimitri Orlov hit for the Caps in the first 20 minutes.
“The response to their goal early by our goal, that was important,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “I didn’t mind the game after that. … As the game went on, I thought we got better and better defensively.”
Alex Ovechkin also scored for the Caps.
After Wilson put the Caps in the third, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Martin Fehervary (empty net) added strikes for the 6-3 final.
Tristan Jarry made 39 saves in the Pens loss.
“We play a little loose and the puck’s in the back of the net,” the Penguins’ John Marino said. “At some point, you have to play a full 60-minute game.”
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