Sheary was almost injured when he was hit knee-on-knee by Capitals forward Tom Wilson at 4:01 of the third period. He missed 4:32 of game time before resuming a regular shift.
The NHL Department of Player Safety fined Wilson $2,403.67, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, for kneeing Sheary. Sullivan said the Penguins were not concerned about the supplemental discipline.
"We're just going to play," he said. "The League is going to do what they do, we're going to do what we do. We're going to play and the refs are going to call the game the way they see it and we're just going to focus on hockey."
Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta certainly is one who wants to focus on having a better performance in Game 2. His turnover at the Capitals blue line directly led to Oshie's first goal at 12:10 of the second period, which tied the game at 2-2 33 seconds after the Penguins took a 2-1 lead.
"I just fanned on it," Maatta said. "I have to make a harder play there. Unlucky bounce, but that can't happen."
Maatta also was caught out of position and beaten by Oshie to the net on his second goal at 3:23 of the third period, which gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead.
"It's not easy," Maatta said of his mistakes. "Obviously it cost [us] the game, but you just have to have the short memory. Can't get stuck to it. I don't think we played that bad. I think we played a good game. I think we had it. Those mistakes cost us. Just got to bounce back [Saturday]."
Sullivan said, "The reality is it's a game of mistakes, and everybody makes them out there. For me, the most important thing that I like about our players is how we respond to them. I think Olli has done a terrific job all year long when things don't go his way. He responds the right way. His body of work this year has been just terrific for our team as far as helping us win. We know he's a good player and it's important that he respond for us because we rely on him."
