WASHINGTON — Evgeny Kuznetsov's frustration was best evidenced by a number he had memorized: 78, the number of shots Kuznetsov said he has taken since his last even-strength goal March 1. A quick fact check proved him right.

“I usually shoot one per game,” he said. “It's pretty tough.”

He said he didn't sleep well after the Washington Capitals' 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 on Friday night, his mind consumed with worry about his personal game and about a team that seemed destined for more than first-round struggles. The Capitals still have a 3-2 series lead, a win from advancing to the next round, but they've lost two games in a row and have to play Game 6 in Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.

Capitals coach Barry Trotz has said he wants to see more five-on-five production from his most skilled players; while Washington thrived on the power play early in the series, there have been fewer man-advantage opportunities in the past two games. At even strength, the Capitals have looked stumped at times, unable to score despite 44 shots Friday night.

Some of that is a credit to the play of Michal Neuvirth, who has single-handedly extended the Flyers' season by two games since Philadelphia made a goaltending switch before Game 4. But Washington also knows it hasn't had enough traffic in front of Neuvirth, the team either settling for outside shots that lend themselves to easy saves or just allowing him to see too much.

The one goal the Capitals scored on Neuvirth in the past two games was with four bodies in front of him. Matt Niskanen's point shot went off Neuvirth's pads, and T.J. Oshie pulled the rebound from the net-front chaos and backhanded it past the goalie. Of the 44 shots on goal by Washington on Friday, just 12 were from within 20 feet of the net.

“We have to put one guy in front of the net, and it's not going to be a pretty one,” Alex Ovechkin said.

“If you see the traffic, you have to shoot, yeah, but sometimes we're trying to play maybe too fancy or whatever and we forget to put one guy at the net,” Kuznetsov said. “Neuvirth is a good goalie, but we have to make a good screen for him. … Even if you're Dominik Hasek, if you have a couple guys in front of you, it's pretty hard to save that puck.”

With 78 shots in the 25 games since he last scored at five-on-five, Kuznetsov, the team's leading scorer in the regular season, has averaged more than three shots per game. In the playoffs, Kuznetsov and wings Justin Williams and Andre Burakovsky have a 62.14 Corsi For percentage, which measures the percent of shot attempts that go in the Capitals' favor when those three are on the ice together.

But despite having the best possession numbers of any forward trio on the team, that line has been especially quiet on the score sheet. Kuznetsov scored a power-play goal in Game 3, and it took a lucky bounce off the glass and to his stick directly in front of goaltender Steve Mason.

“We watch video together as a line, all of our shifts,” Williams said. “We're a hair off. We've had a lot of looks, a lot of zone time, a lot of possession time, but it hasn't resulted in goals, and that can be frustrating. We're going to simplify and play the way we know how. We need to be successful for us to move forward and we know that and we need to put the onus on ourselves, and we have.”

With the Capitals down just one goal for most of the game Friday, Trotz shuffled his line trios slightly in an effort to get a boost. At times, he had Marcus Johansson on a line with center Nicklas Backstrom and Ovechkin. He also was deploying his top lines more frequently, shortening the bench rotation. Mostly happy with how his team played in Game 5, Trotz said he won't be doing anything drastic in response to the loss.

“Once we find the back of the net, we're going to be fine,” Trotz said.

“When we get the first one,” Burakovsky said, “there's going to be a lot more.”