from Dan Steinberg of DC Sports Bog,

In Saturday night’s Game 2 loss to the Penguins, they were dominated for at least 40 minutes, appeared ill-equipped to handle Pittsburgh’s high-flying offense and couldn’t stay out of the penalty box. They went 14 minutes without taking a shot at one point, misfired on the few dangerous chances they did generate and coughed up the home-ice advantage they had worked months to secure. They gave up the winning goal to a popular former teammate, activated one of their ugliest bits of history and now have to hold their breath as the NHL scrutinizes a bad hit by one of their best defensemen.

The good news? The Caps will travel to Pittsburgh tied 1-1, rather than in the 2-0 hole they probably deserve.

But they’ll leave Washington knowing they’re on a path to trouble, that the showing they made in Saturday night’s 2-1 loss won’t be close to enough against the league’s hottest club. The Penguins hadn’t lost consecutive games since mid-January. To win a second straight at home, the Caps needed to start quickly and keep the Penguins from flying through the neutral zone. They needed to rely on their size advantage, make life difficult for rookie netminder Matt Murray and play crisply in their defensive zone.

They needed, in other words, to play better than they had in Thursday’s Game 1 win. Instead, they went backward, offering their worst performance of the postseason. Ignore the final score, because it should have been worse.

read on

Watch the game highlights below...