In Washington, DC< the Capitals tried to rally back from a three-goal deficit on Friday, 
but Jeff Carter hit for a goal with just under two lefts in the third period to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-2 lead they would preserve for the win.
Tristan Jarry made 29 saves. in the Pens win.
“I thought we were quick to pucks in the offensive zone, and for me that’s when our team is at its best, when we’re up in fives and we’re playing an in-your-face style of play,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said. “We weathered the storm, but I thought the first 40 minutes in particular we were real good.”
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller were the Caps strikers in the third period as they closed the gap to 3-2 for the Pens.
“We still made it a one-goal game at the end,” Eller said. “But it was too steep to climb today.”
Pittsburgh improved to 13-8-5.
“Pittsburgh doesn’t give up a lot offensively and so you’ve got to grind it out and fight for even 10 even-strength scoring chances,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. “Problem is, when I look back on the game is, we gave up 15-17 even-strength scoring chances.”
The Pens took a 3-0 lead through two periods off goals from Danton Heinen, Brock McGinn, and Kasperi Kapanen.
“I thought he had a great game,” Sullivan said of Kapanen. “He was strong on the puck. I thought he challenged Washington with his speed. He scores a great goal. … You could tell he was excited to play, and he certainly stepped up for us tonight.”
The Capitals dropped to 16-5-6.
“I thought mentally we were just a step behind,” Washington’s T.J. Oshie said. “We shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit. We did get some chances, we got some breaks and weren’t able to put it in the back of the net, and sometimes we wouldn’t get a shot off. Just not our best game.”
Alex Ovechkin was held goalless, but did have assists on both Caps goals.
Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves in the Washington loss.
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