Kovacevic: Depth, anyone? Kessel? Brassard? ... Sprong?

WASHINGTON -- For all that went awry for the Penguins in their 4-1 loss to the Capitals on Sunday, nothing felt like a greater worry, at least from this perspective, than Washington's edge in four-line forward depth.

That was supposed to be the other way around, remember?

And it still should, over the course of this Stanley Cup playoff series.

But for now, through two split games, the Capitals have gotten meaningful contributions from their third and fourth lines -- not least of which were goals Sunday by fringe left wingers Brett Connolly and Jakub Vrana -- while the Penguins got ... got ... hang on, I'll dig up something ... oh, yeah, next to nothing.

And not just from their third and fourth lines, but the second, too. Let's name all nine names:

• Riley Sheahan, outstanding all through the Philadelphia series, was bumped up to the second line to replace Evgeni Malkin. Zero points, two shots through these two games.

• Phil Kessel has barely existed in these two games. I get that he's a folk hero in these parts and largely immune to criticism. Sorry, but fair is fair. Zero points, three shots and his quarterbacking on the power play has crumbled.

• Dominik Simon couldn't look more like a rookie. But even a child knows better than to try a blind drop pass inside the opponent's blue line, because this is what happens:

I'd been sure Mike Sullivan would bench Simon for that. He didn't, but bet on it for Game 3. Zero points, two shots.

• Derick Brassard's skated better of late, so it seems unlikely that injury from a couple weeks back is affecting him, but he isn't winning 50/50 battles, and he still isn't showing that playoff grit and grime the way he did in New York and Ottawa. Honeymoon's nearing its end. Zero points, four shots and way too much dipsy-doodle.

• Conor Sheary continues to skate well, with little to show for it. Zero points, four shots.

• Bryan Rust has skated as well as anyone, with less to show for it. Zero points, zero shots.

• Zach Aston-Reese needs to dive headfirst into a video binge of his first 10 NHL games and get back to crashing the net, not floating out in the slot and trying long flicks. Zero goals in eight playoff games. In this series, zero points, three shots, not one of them dangerous.

• Tom Kuhnhackl kills penalties and, thus, is a mainstay. But it's OK to pitch in, too. Zero points, one shot.

• Carter Rowney doesn't belong in the NHL. Not this season's version. I don't mean that to sound disrespectful, but he isn't contributing and hasn't since last summer in Nashville. Zero points, one shot.

"It's important for all of us to do better," Sheahan would say after this game. "I think we were just a little late making plays, acting a little surprised when we got the puck. We were losing puck battles. Things that are fixable."

He's right that most can and will do better. But not all. Josh Jooris isn't anyone's cure-all, but he's a real, live NHL skater who's adequate on the PK and faceoffs and could easily be inserted over Rowney. Others on the 13-man taxi squad recalled over the weekend from Wilkes-Barre could help, too, notably you-know-who if put into the right role:

Hey, why care about defensive liabilities in any context where the current defensive forwards are doing next-to-nothing at either end?

Playoffs aren't about development, right?

Ideally, obviously, the solution is to get Malkin and Carl Hagelin back. Malkin seems possible for Game 3, but Hagelin's an unknown until we see him lace up skates.

In the interim, the challenge at hand is to improve upon next-to-nothing. And to do so in a hurry.

• If nothing else, suit up players who are aware of when a game starts. It's one thing for the core guys to look a little sluggish after an opening faceoff. It's not like they're replaceable. But for the bottom lines to basically mimic that is beyond unacceptable.

• Matt Murray gave up all of Washington's first three goals to his glove side. This happens a lot, and I pose a chicken-or-egg question about this via spoken word:

• Murray acknowledged being 'pretty disappointed' about goaltender interference not being called on the second goal. He's right to feel that way, and he's not making excuses. It's possible to be disappointed in one's own performance and in the NHL not having a collective clue how to adjudicate a foundational rule. Those concepts can coexist.

Connolly whacked at Murray's pad for no reason. That's the penalty. That's when it needs to be called.

Once a goal is scored, the replay process focuses solely on whether or not the interference affected his ability to stop the shot, which it really didn't. But it shouldn't have come to that. The referee outside the zone -- the back ref, as he's known -- has one job: Watch the front of the net. He didn't do that job.

• The Penguins didn't play well, and the refs didn't ref well. Here, too, those concepts can coexist.

• When refereeing is bad, it's almost never lopsided. It's just plain bad.

That's Chad Ruhwedel chopping at the right knee of Devante Smith-Pelly after the latter had done well to beat him wide. That's either a slash or a trip. That's a scoring chance nullified. But that's not nothing, which is what was called, and that's a joke.

It's letting bad refs like Chris Rooney and Gord Dwyer off the hook to suggest they're bad because of their impact on the Penguins, which is what's most common with any team's fan base. It's not about favoritism or anything silly like that. They're bad because they're bad and, trust me, in their world, that's so much worse.

Neither should officiate another playoff game. Not here. Not anywhere.

• I have never seen Braden Holtby this sharp down low. Some of his leg saves have been spectacular.

• Three of the Penguins' four goals against him have come on deflections or a screen, like the one Jake Guentzel set for Kris Letang's point shot in this game. This is always the answer, but even watching Guentzel and Patric Hornqvist do it on a regular basis doesn't seem to convince others of its value.

• Watch, Tom Wilson will get just a fine. Mark my words. The NHL's default mode on suspensions is to be concerned first and foremost about fairness for the aggressor, not the victim. They concoct ways to avoid supplemental discipline.

• Goonism is nearly gone from the league, which is great. But if anyone ever wanted to eradicate it outright, institute a policy during the playoffs that allows the other team to choose which player they'd like to see suspended. That garbage would stop in a heartbeat.

• Did someone say garbage?

Never cut Chris Benson loose on stuff like this.

• Sullivan has the Penguins back on the ice today at noon in Cranberry. He should make the first 20 minutes of practice utterly terrorizing, then let them take it easy for the final 40. Shake up the biorhythms a bit.

• I wrote two other full columns from this event. Hope you can check those out, too.

• An awful lot had to go right for the Capitals to claim Game 2. Let that, my friends, be your guiding hockey thought for this Monday.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY