Snap Shots: Caps 3, Pens 1

Thoughts, musings and observations from the Pens' 3-1 loss against the Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena.

* The Pens' dreams of winning the Metro Division dissipated with their setback to rival Washington. The Caps locked up their 3rd straight division title and secured the No. 1 position in their playoff bracket.
With 2 games remaining in the regular season, Pittsburgh will focus on earning the No. 2 spot and home-ice advantage to open the postseason. The Pens hold a 2-point advantage over Columbus and Philadelphia, but both of those teams have a game in hand.
Thursday's showdown in Columbus between the Pens and Blue Jackets could possibly have home-ice advantage on the line. Pittsburgh has a 3-day break to get prepared for that game.
* The biggest difference-maker in tonight's contest was Washington goaltender Philipp Grubauer. He's quietly supplanted Braden Holtby as the Caps' No. 1 goalie, and he showed why with his performance against Pittsburgh. The German stopped all 36 shots against - including a ridiculous diving glove stop on Sidney Crosby - in his 100th career game played. The Caps have quite the goaltending dilemma as the postseason approaches.
* The Pens' power play, which has been a lethal weapon for the team all season long, came up short against Washington. Pittsburgh leaned on its power play early in the season to win games when the club wasn't at its best. The man-advantage came into the night with an NHL-best 26.4-percent conversion rate and coming off of a 3-for-5 performance against Montreal. But the Pens came up with nothing on 5 chances against the Caps, including 80 seconds of a 5-on-3.
The Pens certainly had their chances as Evgeni Malkin hit a crossbar and Grubauer was forced to make several spectacular saves to keep the puck out of the net. But the biggest culprit tonight was Pittsburgh's entries. The Pens couldn't find clean lanes through the neutral zone, which cut into their time in the offensive zone.
* If you really want to see Patric Hornqvist's impact on a game, watch the tape of this game. He was crashing the net, making life a living hell for Grubauer and the Caps defensemen and was involved in nearly every post-whistle scrum. In fact, every time there was a post-whistle scrum, Hornqvist found himself right in the middle of the action. He was certainly in Grubauer's head. The goalie took opportunities to slash and punch Hornqvist to get him out of the blue paint. That's not counting Hornqvist's numerous 1-on-1 battles with Matt Niskanen, Brooks Orpik, DeVante Smith-Pelly and Lars Eller. When one player is drawing that much attention and ire from an entire team, he must be doing something right.
* The bad blood between these 2 teams really boiled over in the final minutes of the game. Hornqvist was jumped by 3 players at the Caps crease, but only Hornqvist was given a penalty. Minutes later Malkin and T.J. Oshie exchanged mutual headlocks before being ejected. Malkin voiced his displeasure, yelling at the Evgeny Kuznetsov, before being escorted to the locker room. Kuznetsov was on the bench and jawing at Malkin during his scrum with Oshie, and Malkin took exception.
* Winger Phil Kessel was a game-time decision with an injury entering the night, putting his Iron Man streak in jeopardy. But Kessel managed to suit up and play, extending his streak to 690 straight games (746 including playoffs).
* He may be the enemy, but congratulations to Washington's Alex Ovechkin, who played in his 1,000th career NHL game tonight. He's provided many memorable moments and highlight reel plays throughout his 13-year NHL career. Ovechkin has been fun to watch, and fun to hate if you're a Pens fan. But you have to recognize greatness, and the Great 8 should be commended for a great personal achievement.