Penguins' bid for three-peat ends against Capitals

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins aren't used to this.
They were the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion, had won nine straight series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and felt they had the right combination to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup, something no NHL team has done since the New York Islanders won four straight from 1980-83.

But that chance ended Monday when the Washington Capitals defeated the Penguins 2-1 in overtime in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Second Round.
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Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov scored 5:27 into overtime, and Washington advanced to its first Eastern Conference Final in 20 years. For the Penguins, all their recent success didn't offset the disappointment of coming up short this postseason.
"We haven't had this feeling for a little bit," Crosby said. "It definitely stings, and you understand how difficult it is and what a fine line it is between winning and losing. Everyone did what they could. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get it done."
It was a great run for the Penguins and especially Crosby. He had 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 12 games and his assist on defenseman Kris Letang's goal in the second period was his 185th Stanley Cup Playoff point (66 goals, 119 assists), tying him for 10th place with Steve Yzerman.

Pittsburgh scored 14 goals against the Capitals, and Crosby was on the ice for 13, with the exception being defenseman Jamie Oleksiak's goal in Game 5. But the Capitals held Crosby in check in Game 6, limiting him to one shot on goal that came with less than three minutes remaining in the third period.
"Coming off the last couple of games I thought we were playing some good hockey," Crosby said. "Tonight probably wasn't one of our better games this series, but still, it was a tight game both ways and we had our chances. Once you're in there with the experience and with a lot of guys who have gone through it, we felt like that was an opportunity."
For some of the younger players on the Penguins, including goaltender Matt Murray, who made 28 saves in Game 6, and forwards Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, this was their first NHL playoff series loss.
"This group knows how hard it is to win in the playoffs," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "All the teams are really good. ... We haven't tasted [losing] in a long time, and that's a credit to the players in that dressing room, because they've been a hungry group and accomplished so much. Obviously, we're all disappointed. We were hoping we'd get a different result."
Pittsburgh had a tough time getting anything through Monday, and when it did, Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby saved them. Letang scored to tie it 1-1 at 11:52 of the second period with a slap shot from the point.

"I mean, we had a great chance to do it again," Letang said. "The team we have, the way we were playing, I don't think we got dominated by that team. But we have to tip our hat to that group. They capitalized on the chances they got. In the few years, yeah, we've done great things. But we expect more."
It was an opportunity, but as several Penguins said, it's not easy to keep up that level of success over an extended period of time. There's a reason it's been decades since the same team has won the Stanley Cup three years in a row.
"It's a tough loss but again, the last two years we played unbelievable," Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin said. "Three years, it's so hard. Maybe a little tired too. But now's the time to look forward."