On a milestone night for their captain, the Pittsburgh Penguins had one of their worst losses of the season.
© Charles LeClaire - Imagn Images
Despite Sidney Crosby registering his 600th career goal, the Penguins were resoundingly defeated by the Utah Hockey Club, 6-1. Utah forward Dylan Guenther registered two goals and an assist, and Clayton Keller had three helpers en route to the Penguins' loss.
At this point, frustration is boiling over for just about everyone in the locker room.
"If we want to stop feeling this way after games, if we want to stop getting embarrassed at home, like, do something about it," goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said after his 24-save performance. "Pay a price. Do something. Feel something else, anything else feels better than whatever that was tonight and what we've been kind of putting out there as a whole this year."
He added: "We've had good efforts lately. The game was right there, within striking distance, and then we just kind of... the third period just wasn't it. We can't let it unravel like that."
However - as has been the story for several seasons now - the Penguins' goaltending isn't doing them any favors.
The defensive zone coverage on the second goal wasn't great, but that's a puck Nedeljkovic should have. He said he never saw the third goal, and that much was clear. But the rest were a bad combination of lackluster defense and poor goaltending.
If I'm Kyle Dubas, I'm getting Joel Blomqvist on the next bus to Pittsburgh. He is, very clearly, the best goaltender this organization has right now. If the Penguins want to turn things around, they need to start with better goaltending.
- During the first period, Erik Karlsson blasted a slapshot right into Noel Acciari's knee. He labored getting to the bench and couldn't put weight on his leg.
However, Acciari returned. He's tough as nails. But I'm sure that didn't feel good once he took off the equipment.
- Owen Pickering started on the first pairing with Kris Letang for the first time in his young career.
However, that didn't translate to his minutes.
Pickering logged just 12:09 of ice time in this game in comparison to Letang's 23:47. The next-closest defenseman was Ryan Graves with 15 minutes, who was part of a disastrous third pairing with Matt Grzelcyk, who was playing on his off-side.
If the Penguins are going to be a disastrous defensive team anyway, just let them be. Pickering has earned those minutes and should have been given a little bit more runway. The nice thing about a third pairing - especially when you have guys like Letang and Karlsson - is that you don't have to ice them very much.
He is, currently, their best defensive defenseman, and he has only played in four NHL games. That should tell you everything you need to know about the Penguins' defense.
But, the very fact that Pickering started on the first pairing almost feels like a telltale sign that the Penguins are preparing for him to have to play in the top-four. This is definitely something to keep an eye on in the coming days and weeks.
- The penalty kill surrendered three goals against on Saturday, which is the most they've allowed all season.
"The penalty kill let us down significantly tonight," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "They get three power play goals, and one of which was shortly after Sid scores. We get within striking distance, make it 2-1, we get some momentum, and then we don't get it done on the penalty kill, and it's 3-1. Now, it's an uphill climb again. Then, the same thing in the third. Our penalty kill let us down tonight."
The eye test says the same thing. It doesn't seem like that unit was pressuring nearly enough. Utah deserves some credit, as they were really moving the puck well.
But even guys who normally look pretty good on the penalty kill - namely Acciari and Nieto - looked out of sorts all night long.
- Sidney Crosby has scored 600 NHL goals.
Let's think on this for a moment. He has missed 212 games due to injuries, lockouts, and pandemics. That is more than two and a half seasons worth of action. Had he played those games, his pace would put him at 693.
But hypotheticals aside, he is the only active player aside from Alexander Ovechkin - the man within spitting distance of the all-time goals record - to reach the milestone. He is only the 21st player ever to reach it, and if he scores 26 more goals this season, he'll be in the top-16 all-time.
Crosby is always going to be known for his playmaking and his 200-foot play rather than his goal-scoring. But, if he remains healthy for the remainder of his career, he has an outside chance at cracking the top-five all-time in goals.
"It's a nice number," Crosby said. "I think that's something you probably think about more after-the-fact when you're done playing."
And, folks, he's not done yet. For all that he is and that he has done, this guy is a hell of a goal-scorer. Congrats on 600, Sid.
- To be honest, I don't really know what else to say about this game. It's the same old story for the Penguins. They are a ridiculously fragile team. When one thing goes wrong, it snowballs out of control.
Don't be surprised if there are a few moves before Wednesday's game against Vancouver. If the Penguins are going to lose games, so be it. But they cannot keep losing games the way they are.
Something has to change. And I'm not sure there are any answers currently in that locker room.
