WASHINGTON -- The Penguins return to the nation's capital just like they left it six days earlier: Tied.
How close has this series been? Through four games, the Capitals have scored 11 goals on 109 shots while the Penguins have scored 10 on 104.
In their previous 10 postseason series against Washington, the Penguins are 6-4 in Game 5, but have lost each of the last two.
1. Big game hunting.
Prior to Game 3, Mike Sullivan said he sat down with Derick Brassard.
In addition to telling Brassard he'd be centering the fourth line, the coach said he wanted the center to be "more engaged" and to be as "emotionally invested" as he had been with the Rangers and Senators when he established himself as one of the NHL's premier playoff performers.
Despite his demotion, Brassard responded in Game 3 with an aggressive effort, throwing two hits and getting involved in scrums while getting two shot attempts.
"Just trying to help him get to his very best game," Sullivan said. "I think Derick's a real good competitor and I think part of that is when he plays with a little bit of an edge and I thought he had that (Tuesday) night."
But Brassard took a step back in Game 4 with no shots, no hits and barely any ice time. His 10:50 was his season low.
His teammates, like Conor Sheary, say that Brassard has been a valuable contributor and believe that his goal-scoring touch will come around:
It won't come a moment too soon for the Penguins.
"If one goes in I think it can give us some confidence as a line and as a player," Brassard said. "I just have to try and play better and try and play harder."
After missing the final six games of the regular season with a groin injury, Brassard has a goal and two assists in 1o playoff games. Presumably that injury is still bothering him somewhat, but these are the playoffs and, as Sullivan was saying Friday, everyone has "bumps and bruises."
The Penguins are in desperate need of secondary scoring and Brassard, regardless of where he plays, is the most qualified to provide it. Acquired to be the final piece in the three-peat puzzle, it's high time he lives up to his big game reputation.
2. Road sweet road.
Before the playoffs began, common wisdom held that the Penguins would struggle on the road where they had been 17-20-4 for 38 points (19th) and had been outscored 140-121.
Well, things have changed in the postseason. The Penguins are 4-1 on the road and have outscored their opponents 22-12. When I asked Sidney Crosby about it, even he couldn't explain his team's reversal of fortune away from PPG Paints Arena:
With this series against the Capitals now a best-of-three and two of those games at Capital One Arena, that's probably not such a bad thing. Sullivan is not a big matchups coach to begin with, and his team has always seemed to embrace the challenge of winning tough games on the road.
With the chance to push the hated Capitals to the brink of elimination on their home ice, look for the Penguins to have their best overall performance of the series.
3. Encore! Encore!
Sullivan is decidedly one of the game's more progressive minds and leads one of the most offensively-gifted teams in the league. But even he had to like his team's defensive effort in their 3-1 win in Game 4.
The Penguins held Washington to 21 shots, including just three in the third period while protecting what was a one-goal lead until Jake Guentzel's empty-netter.
With Tom Wilson sitting out the first of his three-game suspension, the Capitals grew clearly frustrated. Despite his penchant for questionable hits, Wilson is a commodity for the Capitals, using his size to create time and space for linemates Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. In Game 4, Ovechkin was held without a shot for the first time this postseason and without a point for the first time in the series.
With an offense that is struggling to find the back of the net, save for Crosby and Guentzel, the Penguins might need to replicate their Game 4 performance.
"As talented as our team is and as dynamic as we can be offensively, we have to be a team that’s hard to play against," Sullivan said. "We have to be a team that forces our opponent for any sort of chance they get at our net. I think that’s the formula for success in the playoffs."