Ovechkin, Capitals quiet in loss to Penguins in Game 4

PITTSBURGH --Barry Trotz wasn't concerned with the anomaly.
Alex Ovechkin has been outstanding for the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in 10 games, but he was held without a shot on goal for the first time this postseason (and first time since Feb. 17 against the Chicago Blackhawks) in a 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Thursday.

"Trust me," Trotz said. "Ovi will get his shots."
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It wasn't just Ovechkin. Washington had a tough time generating quality scoring chances and had three shots on goal in the third period in its first loss in five playoff road games.

The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 at Washington on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVAS).
T.J. Oshie scored a power-play goal at 12:55 of the second period, and Braden Holtby made 21 saves for the Capitals, who weren't disappointed in their overall game but know they missed a great opportunity to return to Washington with a 3-1 series lead.
"We feel positive," Oshie said. "The game ended about seven minutes ago, so you're still a little upset right now, but we'll regroup here. I'm sure we'll look at some film, see what areas they exploited on us and what areas we can take advantage of on them."
The Capitals played their first game without forward Tom Wilson, who was suspended three games by the NHL Department of Player Safety for an illegal check to the head of Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese in the second period in Game 3. Devante Smith-Pelly replaced Wilson on the top line with Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
"I thought that line was going pretty well head to head," Trotz said. "There wasn't much space on both sides."
But Washington had 21 shots on goal, its fewest in the playoffs, and Kuznetsov had five of those shots.
"When everything's tight, you just have to execute those little plays and be patient," Kuznetsov said.

On Wednesday, the Capitals had talked about playing simple on the road but felt they let a few chances slip and will need to execute better in Game 5.
"To comment right away, [the Penguins] defended well," Trotz said. "We could've hung on to a couple of pucks, we passed up a couple of pucks, trying to get a little too fine. We're going to have to make it harder. We're going to study the tape and see if we can make a few adjustments. Those slight adjustments you make could make a difference for us."
The Capitals aren't worried about Ovechkin or their quiet game. The Penguins played tighter defense against them, and even though they didn't build their series lead, they are confident going back home.
"We can complain about this, complain about that, wonder about this or whatever. Just keep playing the game really hard, keep believing," Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen said. "I think we're building a belief that we can beat these guys. We know we're going to have to play really well, but it's possible. We think we can do it. We just have to play really well."