PHN Six-Pack: Half-Dozen Takeaways from Penguins-Capitals (+)

Had things broken right for the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday evening, they might have had a grip — albeit, a tenuous one — on a wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference playoff field by the end of the night.

That reality took a bit too long to register with them, however.

They spotted Washington a four-goal lead in the opening period at PPG Paints Arena before staging a spirited rally that came up just short in a 4-3 loss to the Capitals.

While it’s hard to say why they sleepwalked through most of the first 20 minutes — it’s not as if they weren’t aware of the standings — once they got past that stumbling start, they turned in a fairly inspired performance.

One that just wasn’t quite good enough to salvage a point or two.

Here are some of the highs and lows from the game: