Penguins look to bounce back after Game 3 loss to Capitals

PITTSBURGH --It wasn't the prettiest game for either team but the Pittsburgh Penguins still liked a lot of what they were doing against the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.
But any mistake in a tight game can be costly, and it was for the Penguins when a turnover led to Alex Ovechkin's game-winning goal and a 4-3 Capitals win.

Washington leads the best-of-7 series 2-1, with Game 4 here on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS).
RELATED: [Aston-Reese suffers broken jaw in Game 3 loss | Complete Capitals vs. Penguins series coverage]
Penguins center Evgeni Malkin returned after missing three games with a lower-body injury, assisting on Patric Hornqvist's power-play goal in the second period. But Pittsburgh lost forward Zach Aston-Reese, who sustained a broken jaw and a concussion from a hit from Capitals forward Tom Wilson.
Matt Murray had a tough game, allowing four goals on 22 shots, but said the Penguins weren't going to dwell on this game for long.

"We just play, man," Murray said. "There's nothing else we can do. The game's over. It is what it is. We just play, get back to our game and build off what we can, learn from what we can and just go out there and play."
The Penguins have talked about limiting odd-man rushes and they were reminded of how costly they can be. Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom intercepted a pass by Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta and started a 2-on-1 with Ovechkin. Backstrom sent a pass to his right to Ovechkin, whose first shot hit the post, but he batted the puck out of the air to break a 3-3 tie with 1:07 left in the third period.
"We have extended zone time with that shift, we just got to be smarter with the puck at that time of the game and in that end of the rink and make sure that we give our forwards another opportunity to make a play at the net," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
"It was unfortunate because we had pretty good momentum at that particular point. We had our top line on the ice, we felt the other team was tired, we had an extended zone shift. It was disappointing but that's part of the game and we have to do a better job and learn from it."
The Penguins had a lot of positives. Their top line is still producing: Hornqvist had a goal, Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an assist, and they scored their first power-play goal of the series. It came down to a late mistake.

"We played pretty hard," Hornqvist said. "It's a game of bounces out there. Both teams played really well and it came down to the last minute. They executed on one of our mistakes.
"We're comfortable. We know we're capable in this room. We showed that the whole game. It's a tough one to swallow right now. We'll have a meeting tomorrow, forget about it and focus on the next game."