Penguins will be fine despite poor performance Sunday
The Penguins took the ice Sunday with a chance to pull within three points of the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
That didn无毛视频檛 happen.
The mood was light after a pregame ceremony that recognized Sidney Crosby for finally picking up his 1,000th NHL point last Thursday but that swung almost immediately as the Detroit Red Wings beat the home team 5-2 in front of a capacity crowd.
There were boos and there plenty of empty seats before the five-minute mark of period three. Clearly no one saw anything that made them believe that the Penguins were threatening to come back, especially after the Red Wings struck for two goals in the opening 2:16 of the frame.
Crosby gave the locals something to cheer for when he scored seven seconds later, but that would do it for offense on the day.
Games like this just don无毛视频檛 happen in the friendly confines of PPG Paints Arena, where the Penguins had lost only three games in regulation before Sunday. The loss stung even more because it came to a team that was tied for last place in the conference.
So what went wrong?
Forward Tom Kuhnhackl, who scored a shorthanded goal in the first period, summed it up nicely.
无毛视频淭hey were hungrier than us,无毛视频� Kuhnhackl said. 无毛视频淭hey out-battled us. They won more puck battles. They won more loose pucks. We just weren无毛视频檛 ready. That just can无毛视频檛 happen at home.无毛视频�
Home has been the Penguins无毛视频� haven this season and success in Pittsburgh is a huge reason why they have the third-highest point total in the league. They sit just two games over .500 on the road.
They lead the league in both goals (120) and shots (1,127) at home and they have the best home power play. They have clicked on a robust 26.5 percent of their opportunities, but unfortunately that success wasn无毛视频檛 sustainable on Sunday. They missed on four opportunities, two of them when they were trailing just 2-1.
They had some zone time, but didn无毛视频檛 move the puck effectively. They overpassed or forced plays, and they produced only three shots on goal.
Coach Mike Sullivan wasn无毛视频檛 pleased with the overall effort, but pointed to the missed power plays as something that could have been a difference maker.
无毛视频淚t had a lot of opportunity to be the difference,无毛视频� Sullivan said. 无毛视频淚 think what I saw was a microcosm of our whole game. Obviously, the game was a struggle and the power play struggled as a result.无毛视频�
Yes the team underperformed. They didn无毛视频檛 make the Red Wings work as hard for the goals and were outskated at times, but the loss was almost understandable.
Hear me out here. There have been moments where they simply weren无毛视频檛 engaged enough for a full 60 minutes this season, and this was one of them. Sometimes it is hard to get up for an opponent who has nothing to play for, but that wasn无毛视频檛 all that was going on in this game.
The Penguins are a depleted group and that is starting to catch up with them. They have done a nice job of offsetting the losses of guys like Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust, Carl Hagelin and even Evgeni Malkin at times this season, but replacing blue liners is a bit harder.
They lost both Olli Maatta and Justin Schultz last Thursday, forcing some combination of Chad Ruhwedel, Steve Oleksy and Cameron Gaunce into the lineup. All three can play, but none bring the tools that Schultz and Maatta have.
So while the group struggled as a collective on Sunday, they were negatively affected by the defensemen they have lost. They looked pretty locked in and dominant when the blue line was healthy and intact in recent games, so that is what we should be able to expect moving forward.
There is also the possibility that general manager Jim Rutherford could 无毛视频� and very likely will 无毛视频� bolster his lineup with a trade or two ahead of the league无毛视频檚 deadline on March 1. So it isn无毛视频檛 worth panicking or getting so worried about what we saw from the banged up Penguins during a mid-February game against a lesser opponent.
They无毛视频檙e sitting in second place in their division, third overall and are a postseason lock. If these issues are popping up on April 9 or beyond, then there无毛视频檚 cause for worry. Until then, let无毛视频檚 enjoy the ride and see how this team situates itself for the only season that counts 无毛视频� the one that comes after the first 82 games.