PITTSBURGH — For the Penguins, Saturday started as a somber but celebratory hockey afternoon in Pittsburgh as the team paid tribute to the late Mike Lange at PPG Paints Arena.

Emotions were raw when the puck finally dropped. But instead of this being one of those wild wins when you had to be here to believe it, the Penguins got thumped by the first-place Washington Capitals in their first game after the 4 Nations break.

The visitors scored five goals in the second period and ran away with an 8-3 victory. The eight goals were the most the Penguins have allowed in a game this season.

“We beat ourselves,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “We made some mistakes that [led to] Grade-A opportunities for them, and it changed the momentum of the game.”

Starting goalie Alex Nedeljkovic didn’t know whether to cry or wind his watch when the Capitals took an early lead on a pinball goal off the skate of rookie Ethen Frank.

The Penguins didn’t register their first shot until eight minutes in. But they started to gain traction late in the first period, thanks to a pair of power plays. They tied it up when — look out, Loretta — Kris Letang blew a one-timer past Logan Thompson.

The Penguins were cow-kicked when Martin Fehervary scored on an odd-man rush to retake the lead, 2-1. In response, Crosby slapped the Capitals silly with a tying goal later in the second period. His backhand shot somehow got through Thompson.

Unfortunately for the Penguins, the kitchen was not closed. The Capitals put three more pucks behind Nedeljkovic to take a 5-2 lead. Mike Sullivan pulled Nedeljkovic after Aliaksei Protas scored on a long wrist shot. Nedeljkovic made only nine saves.

Those three goals, scored less than four minutes apart, totally changed the game.

“The shots were 19-9. We had twice as much offensive zone time. ... We felt pretty good about where the game was at even though we were down a goal,” Sullivan said. “Then we chased offense. And when you chase offense and you don’t have a recognition of risk [versus] reward, you end up giving your opponents easy offense.”

The Capitals soon beat Joel Blomqvist like a rented mule, too. Penguins nemesis Tom Wilson got that one, earning a hearty round of boos from the frustrated fans.

Washington tacked on two more to send Pittsburgh to its 10th loss in 15 games.

Same old story

No doubt, the Penguins organizationally are a team in transition with a lot of flaws. But had they have gotten league-average goaltending this season, they might be in a playoff position today. Instead, Saturday’s loss dropped them to 15th in the East.

The Penguins were let down by goaltending again Saturday. Sullivan was not wrong when he suggested that the Penguins controlled play for the first 30 minutes of the game. Then Nedeljkovic let at least three stoppable shots get through him during the second period, including the Protas shot that prompted Sullivan to change goalies.

“It’s the first game back off the break. It’s not an easy game for anybody,” Sullivan said. “I just felt like we needed to make a change at that particular point in time.”

Blomqvist was better but hardly outstanding himself, stopping just 14 of 17 shots.

Sullivan probably wanted to avoid turning to Blomqvist because he is the presumed starter for Sunday’s home game against the New York Rangers. For what it’s worth, the 23-year-old goalie downplayed that, saying it was “nice to get a feel for the game.”

Overall, the total of expected goals for the Capitals was just 3.23, per Sportlogiq.

No setbacks for Sid

There was some uncertainty about whether Crosby would suit up Saturday after he played through a left arm injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off. On Friday, Sullivan called his captain a game-time decision for this rivalry game. But Crosby was good to go.

His backhand goal off the rush in the second period put him two away from hitting the 20-goal plateau for the 17th time. And he won eight of his 15 faceoffs, after he did not take many draws when he played for Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Crosby, who was a minus- 2 in the loss, said he feels better now than he did heading into the 4 Nations Face-Off and is pleased that “there haven’t been any setbacks.”

“I want to play. And if I can play, I’m going to play,” he said. “It’s pretty clear cut.”

A touching tribute

The Penguins honored Lange, the Hall of Fame broadcaster who died Wednesday at 76, with an emotional seven-minute ceremony prior to puck-drop. It included a moment of celebration — instead of silence — and a well-produced tribute video.

In addition to the ceremony, the team placed decals honoring Lange on the helmets of players, showed clips from Lange’s career on the big video board throughout the game and had Lange-centric fan engagement activities throughout the concourse.

Per usual, the Penguins hit all the right notes while honoring the legendary Lange.

“Obviously, he was a great person and means a lot to a lot of people — here, the organization, the fans, the city,” Crosby said after the game. “The tribute was really nice and to have his family here to recognize him. He’s going to be missed for sure.”

Ice chips

— Evgeni Malkin returned to the lineup Saturday after a knee injury sidelined him for six games heading into the break. However, Bryan Rust sat out due to an illness.

— To make room for Malkin on the roster, the Penguins before the game sent back winger Emil Bemstrom to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

— Pittsburgh’s scratches were Boko Imama, Ryan Shea and Vladislav Kolyachonok.

— Danton Heinen scored with 5:38 to go, his first goal since rejoining the Penguins.

— Heinen, Kevin Hayes and Philip Tomasino were the only Penguins who weren’t in the red in terms of plus-minus rating. Those three formed the third line Saturday.

Coming up

The Penguins host the Rangers at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. That game will be critical for both teams’ playoff hopes. After that is another big game Tuesday in Philadelphia.

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