The mark of inconsistency doomed the Pittsburgh Penguins once again in their 4-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
And, despite controlling large portions of the game, their defense let them down.
The Penguins were swept in their season series against the Seattle Kraken, dropping their second matchup, 4-1, in a series of defensive breakdowns and judgment calls.
“I thought for the majority of the game we carried the game,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “But you can’t offend easy teams like we did. When you look at the goals they’ve scored, it’s just too easy. It’s just too easy. Obviously he’s It’s hard to win when you do that.”
The Penguins were in this game until the third period, when Sidney Crosby got on the board and rookie goaltender Joel Blomqvist kept him close.
But all four of Seattle’s goals — aside from a five-on-three field goal that put them up, 2-1, in the second half — were the result of turnovers and defensive breakdowns.
I’ll keep this one short, but it wasn’t a good loss for the Penguins. Here are some observations:
– Although the Penguins couldn’t figure out Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord for the second straight game, the loss fell on their defensive corps.
The first goal of the game was the result of an unacceptable offensive zone turnover by Kris Letang. He fumbled on a pass and Seattle took him the other way. Then, with the Penguins shorthanded, he took an ill-advised cross-checking penalty that gave Seattle a five-on-three for nearly a minute and a half, and they capitalized. 2-0.
On third goal, Matt Grzelcyk inexplicably followed a Seattle forward without the puck below the goal line, leaving the net front completely exposed. Two Kraken were waiting in front of Blomqvist for an easy objective.
Then, on Seattle’s final goal, Erik Karlsson made an unnecessarily high-danger pass that led to a turnover in the neutral zone, and they capitalized.
The worst part of this game is that the Penguins didn’t play badly. They haven’t really given Seattle too many good looks all this time. But if they’re going to win hockey games, there’s no way they can hand opposing teams easy goals. It’s that simple.
They’re not engaged enough in the details, and that’s what’s hindering their season. This team should be nowhere near as far down the rankings.
– This was one of the worst performances of the season from Letang in particular.
He had an assist on Crosby’s goal and did a lot to make that play happen. But he’s making way, way too many mistakes right now, and he’s not producing enough and generating enough offensively to make up for those mistakes. And, when he makes a mistake or commits an ill-advised pinch, he doesn’t have the legs to get back into the game most of the time.
He needs to be much, much better if he’s going to continue to receive these high-level minutes. He and Karlsson are the only options for this team right now.
– Boko Imama – who only played in 15 NHL games before Saturday – made his Penguins debut against the Kraken.
I thought he was pretty good in this game and played with a lot of energy. He shaded Adam Larsson – who took a warming liberty on Sidney Crosby in the teams’ last matchup – for much of the night. He threw the body away. He was avant-garde. He arrived in the middle of everything.
Imama is an enforcer, but he’s a pretty decent fourth-line player overall. I wouldn’t mind seeing him get games in place of Matt Nieto once Bryan Rust or Blake Lizotte are healthy.
– Despite surrendering four goals, Blomqvist was good in this match. His confidence and poise are noticeable, and he really gave the Penguins a chance to win this game with some big saves.
None of the goals were about him. Seattle’s chances had been point-blank opportunities on Odd-Man Rushes.
– The Penguins have only won four times in 15 games since the break. This is very restrictive from last season, when they slipped pretty badly after the turn of the new year until the trade deadline – by which time it was too little, too late to make the playoffs.
Pittsburgh is now 20-23-8 with 48 points, and they sit seven points away from a wild card point. They’re in the basement of the metro, are the second-ranked team in the Eastern Conference, and are just seven points ahead of the Buffalo Sabers – the last team in the East – with two more games played.
Look, it’s not impossible for the Penguins to catch up. They have three more games against non-playoff teams outside of their division before playing three division games against the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers before the 4-nation break.
But they’re digging themselves a very deep hole, and I feel like they need to go 5-1 in these games to really give themselves a chance before the NHL trade deadline on March 7.
