WASHINGTON — Give Washington goalie Braden Holtby credit.

The guy was perfect.

He just didn’t have to be particularly good.

Holtby rejected all 27 shots the Penguins threw at him in the Capitals’ 4-0 victory Wednesday night at the Verizon Center, but it’s unlikely any of those saves are going to make it onto his personal highlights tape.

Mostly because there was not much danger many of the shots were going to reach the net behind him.

“We had a few opportunities,” Penguins center Sidney Crosby said. “But we need to create more if we want to win a game.”

Part of the problem was that the Capitals consistently fared better in one-on-one confrontations, whether they were along the boards, in front of the net or off of faceoffs.

“We kept winning the battles you need to win,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said.

Although Holtby was named the game’s No 1 star, Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin had a greater impact on the outcome.

He scored the only goal Washington would need at 4:50 of the opening period, deflecting a Karl Alzner shot past Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

Ovechkin then blistered a slap shot past Fleury from the left dot during a power play at 17:19 of the second to put Washington up, 2-0.

“You just can’t give him the shot from there,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said.

Eric Fehr and Mike Green added Washington’s final two goals in the third period, but the game effectively was over when Ovechkin’s blur hit the net behind Fleury.

His first goal ended a three-game pointless streak against the Penguins. It also was his first home-ice goal against them since Feb. 7, 2010. Ovechkin’s previous eight goals against them had been scored in Pittsburgh.

His second of the game was noteworthy, too, because it was his league-leading 29th this season.

The Penguins, who had won eight consecutive games against Washington before a 3-0 loss Dec. 27 at Consol Energy Center, now have lost two in a row to the Capitals — and failed to manufacture a goal in the process.

“I don’t think we’ve done enough to get to the front of the net,” Crosby said. “We’ve been a little too [willing to spend time on the] perimeter, and they do a good job of boxing out.”

This loss snapped a run of three victories in a row for the Penguins at the Verizon Center and dropped their record to 27-13-8.

They are three points behind the first-place New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division.

Crosby returned to the lineup after sitting out a 5-3 victory Tuesday against Winnipeg. He logged 19 minutes and 42 seconds of ice time while playing played between Chris Kunitz and David Perron and said he felt “not bad.”

Center Maxim Lapierre, acquired Tuesday from St. Louis for Marcel Goc, made his Penguins debut and played 14 minutes, 15 seconds. He was used primarily between Nick Spaling and Steve Downie and got some work killing penalties.

The Capitals were coming off a 4-3 loss Tuesday in Columbus and were in a 0-3-1 slump. They were desperate for a victory, and it showed.

“We kind of bounced back how we needed,” Ovechkin said.

The Penguins, meanwhile, didn’t do a lot of the things they needed to. Like establishing a productive forecheck or getting traffic in front of Holtby to create second-chance opportunities.

“I’d like to put some more pucks to the net and get there,” Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi said. “[We] need to get a guy in [Holtby’s] face.”

Probably would have been the best way to get a puck into his net.

Or at least to force Holtby to work for his shutout.

Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG.

First Published: January 29, 2015, 4:11 a.m.
Updated: January 29, 2015, 5:08 a.m.