The defending Stanley Cup champions have been brought down a peg or two, for one night at least.
The Pittsburgh Penguins dropped a 7-1 decision to the rival Washington Capitals on Wednesday, and head coach Mike Sullivan hopes it's a teachable moment, in a manner of speaking.
#Pens coach Mike Sullivan: "These games are humbling. We got embarrassed out there tonight, all of us."
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) November 17, 2016
More Sullivan: "It’s humbling when you go through. My hope is that we learn from it and make sure that it doesn’t happen again."
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) November 17, 2016
The Capitals were in control of the game basically from start to finish, out attempting the Penguins by a margin of 68-46. Both of Pittsburgh's goalies saw time in this one, as Marc-Andre Fleury entered the game after Matt Murray was sequestered to the quiet room. Neither was particularly effective, but certainly could not be faulted for the overall poor effort from the team as a whole.
Before Wednesday, the Penguins' most lopsided loss of the season had come at the hands of the Nasvhille Predators on Oct. 22, a game that ended 5-1.
As a reminder, Pittsburgh lost five of their last six games to end the 2016-16 regular season - including 6-1 and 7-2 decisions - meaning this one probably won't matter much in the grand scheme of things.
