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The Washington Capitals had a better performance in Game 3.  Unfortunately, they got down 3-0 in the first half of the game, and had to play some catch-up.

The Capitals had a nice 3rd period rally and scored 2 goals, but just fell short.  They outshot the Penguins by more than double, but Penguins goaltender Matt Murray stole the show for the Penguins.

Let’s hand out some letter grades for the Capitals with their Game 3 performance:

GRADE: B

Analysis: Ovechkin’s tally in the third period gave the Capitals some momentum.  Ovechkin was really physical in the 3rd period and was laying the boom against the Penguins defenders.

GRADE: B-

Analysis: Johansson took a nasty elbow to the head, courtesy of Kris Letang.  Kuznetsov skated very well tonight, and probably had his best game of the series.  Williams continues to struggle, and took another unnecessary penalty in the game.

GRADE: D

Analysis: All 3 players each had a -1 rating.  Richards only won 36% of his faceoffs.

GRADE: C

Analysis: This line did not see much action late in the game.  Beagle and Winnik were excellent on the penalty kill once again.

GRADE: D

Analysis:  Alzner and Niskanen were on the ice for the first two Penguins goals.  Niskanen whiffed on the attempted clear, which kept the puck in the zone on the first goal.  On the second Penguins goal, Nicklas Backstrom missed the puck in the neutral zone, which led to a partial breakaway.  It was also a fluke goal off of Tom Kuhnhackl’s back.

GRADE: C

Analysis: Nate Schmidt had a horrible defensive zone turnover, which led to the Penguins third goal scored by Carl Hagelin.

GRADE: D

Analysis: Orlov was iffy again.  He iced the puck at inopportune times and lost the puck in offensive zone.  Chorney only played a little over 10 minutes.

GRADE: A-

Analysis: Holtby played another strong game tonight.  He has been the Capitals MVP in the playoffs.

SPECIAL TEAMS

GRADE: C

Analysis: The Capitals powerplay went 0/4, and did not score once again.  The Capitals penalty kill was strong, and they killed 3 penguins powerplays.

ON-ICE REFEREES: FRANCIS CHARRON AND WES MCCAULEY

GRADE: F

Analysis: So Marcus Johansson gets elbowed in the head by Kris Letang in the first period, and it is only a 2-minute penalty.  It is amazing how Kris Letang did not get a 5-minute major or game misconduct.

Letang levels MoJo for a 2 min penalty#CapsPens pic.twitter.com/pBntylByFo

— CAPITALS HILL (@CapitalsHill) May 3, 2016

Johansson: “I didn’t see him coming. He came from the blind side. I just looked at it. He obviously leaves his feet and hits me in the head.

— Zac Boyer (@ZacBoyer) May 3, 2016

By: George Foussekis