Penguins End Season on a Sour Note

It was bound to happen. Sooner or later, the Penguins were going to lose a game. As inevitable as death and taxes.

Might even do them some good, heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Remind them of how much it stinks to wind up on the short end of the stick. Lord knows, they haven’t had much experience with it lately.

Still, I hate losing to the Flyers. There isn’t anything remotely enjoyable about watching our arch-enemies and their faithful celebrate a victory at our expense. Especially one that clinched a playoff berth.

Hopefully, our Commonwealth Cold War adversary will reciprocate by making life miserable for Washington in the opening round of the playoffs. While I’m confident we can beat the President’s Trophy winners in a seven-game set, I’d prefer to face the Flyers down the road. A team we outclassed in three previous meetings prior to Saturday’s affair.

I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Penguins had their moments yesterday. Like when Nick Bonino converted an artful setup from Carl Hagelin midway through the first period to stake us to a 1-0 lead. Just not enough of them.

The tide abruptly turned late in the frame when Philly’s Braden Schenn took a shortcut through the crease and conked goalie Matt Murray on the noggin’ with an errant hip. The force of the blow dislodged Murray’s mask and snapped his head to the side, much like the effects of a well-placed left hook.

Although the collision appeared accidental, it had dire consequences. Murray had gobbled up 11 shots and looked unbeatable. Not wanting to risk further injury, coach Mike Sullivan wisely pulled the rookie netminder.

Enter Jeff Zatkoff, who hadn’t seen action since a porous performance against Tampa Bay on February 20. Barely a minute later Philly’s omnipotent sniper Wayne Simmonds (two goals) tapped Jakub Voracek’s net-front feed past the rusty backup.

The tally signaled the beginning of the end for the black and gold, who looked uncharacteristically sluggish skating without resting superstars Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang. While the Flyers proceeded to pour it on, our boys mustered a paltry nine shots on goal during the final 40 minutes.

Zatkoff recovered nicely, stopping 17 of the final 18 shots he faced. However, any real chance for a win evaporated early in the third period with Tom Sestito’s bristling blindside check on Flyers forward Ryan White. The Pens’ heavyweight dominated a brief follow-up scrap with Chris VandeVelde but lost the punitive war—big time—drawing a minor, major and game misconduct.

The locals shut down Philly during the extended power play, but had little left in the tank for one of those patented comebacks we’ve come to anticipate. Following half a period of ho-hum hockey, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare skated the length of the ice to slam-dunk an empty netter and seal a 3-1 Flyers win.

Disappointing as it was, the loss did nothing to dim the luster of one of the most remarkable runs in Penguins history. One that saw the team flourish despite a virtual Old Testament-plague of adversity and injury.

“We’ve done such a great job of continuing to grow as a team,” defenseman Ian Cole said. “I think that’s why, through all these injuries…we’ve continued to play a very good team game.”

And now? The Pens have a few days of R-and-R before the playoffs start. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury should be ready. Ditto sparkplug winger Bryan Rust. Superstar Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Olli Maatta are progressing. They shouldn’t be too far behind. Hopefully, Murray’s okay.

Let the second season begin!