It isn’t accurate to say the Penguins lost their second-round playoff series to the Capitals. That doesn’t give enough credit to the Capitals, who, quite frankly, won the series. Maybe it’s semantics, but in this case it’s an important distinction to make.
The Capitals beat the Penguins. They beat the Penguins because they were better. They beat the Penguins because they played better. They beat the Penguins because Braden Holtby outplayed Matt Murray. They beat the Penguins because they somehow found a way not to be spooked by the black and gold uniforms and names like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.