Oshie blames himself for high stick on Bonino: 'Amateur play by me'

T.J. Oshie could have easily called out Nick Bonino for embellishing the late high-sticking call he drew on Oshie, but the Washington Capitals forward chose to take responsibility instead.

"Tough time to get a penalty," Oshie told reporters postgame, according to Chris Gordon of Russian Machine Never Breaks. "It's kind of an amateur play by me there."

Oshie was called for high-sticking with 1:52 left in the third period of Game 4, putting the Penguins on a power play for the rest of regulation with a 3-2 lead.

Replays showed Bonino jerking his head back after Oshie's stick caught him on the arm. Despite the apparent case of embellishment by his opponent, the Capitals winger continued to look inward.

"You (have to) check your feet in those big moments," he said following the 3-2 defeat that put Washington on the brink of elimination, down 3-1 in the series.

Oshie didn't blame Bonino for the theatrical reaction.

"I didn't think I hit him that hard, but I've been on the other side," he said. "The natural reaction when you get hit is your head snaps back a little bit. It's unfortunate. Tough to be in that situation. I'm still positive we're going to be able to pull it out, but (it's) tough (to play) 5-on-5 with the goalie pulled."

Game 5 goes Saturday night back in Washington.