Penguins lament slow start in Game 2 loss to Capitals

WASHINGTON -- The Pittsburgh Penguins had more scoring opportunities against the Washington Capitals in the second and third periods in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Sunday, but couldn't overcome a slow start in a 4-1 loss.
The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1, with Game 3 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS2).

The Penguins struggled in the first period; they were outshot 20-10 and couldn't muster consistent possession or scoring opportunities. On Pittsburgh's first power play 6:57 into the game, the Capitals had more shots on goal (3-2).
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"We were just a little late in making decisions, maybe a little too loose, not winning as many puck battles as we should have," Penguins forward Riley Sheahan said. "Just little things that are easily fixable that we can change when Game 3 comes."
Pittsburgh expected Washington to come out strong after Game 1. The Capitals had a 2-0 lead after two periods before the Penguins came back for a 3-2 win.

"We need to have a better start," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We need more pushback from the drop of the puck. We didn't match the [Capitals'] urgency. We need to be better in the first. What I really liked was the response we had. We were a whole lot better in the second and third."
Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang scored his second goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the second period, when Pittsburgh outshot Washington 16-6. The Penguins are looking for more offense outside of their top line of Jake Guentzel (seven goals, 10 assists), Sidney Crosby (seven goals, eight assists) and Patric Hornqvist (three goals, five assists).
But it was also about what the Penguins gave up. Hornqvist's attempted clearing pass went to Alex Ovechkin, who scored his seventh goal of the playoffs 1:26 into the game. Jakub Vrana scored with five seconds remaining on a Washington power play in the first period, and Dominik Simon's turnover led to Brett Connolly's goal which gave the Capitals a 3-0 lead 2:08 into the second period.

"We had a lot of scoring chances, but so did they," Sullivan said. "I think we have to do a better job of being more difficult to play against and limiting some of the chances they get. But having said that, we had a number of quality chances as well. At some point, we have to find a way to score goals. That's something we'll get to work on and try to get better at."
Hornqvist thought he got the Penguins to within 3-2 at 9:03 of the third period after stuffing the puck underneath Capitals goalie Braden Holtby's left leg. However, the call on the ice was no goal and video review upheld the call.
"Our first period was probably one of our worst in the playoffs and our second and third were really good," Hornqvist said. "It's a 1-1 series. You know it's going to be a long series and there are two good teams going after it. You learn from it and make sure we have a better start."