Penguins Stumble to Game 1 Loss

It may be a bit of an understatement to suggest that things didn’t go well for our Penguins last night. Indeed, after watching them stumble to a 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Consol Energy Center, one might be tempted to ask if the magic dust has worn off our glorious postseason run.

Yes, the boys rang up a 35-20 advantage in shots on goal—including a gaudy 16-5 edge in the third period. But the Pens fell into some old, bad habits. Such as overpassing in search of the perfect shot. And turning the puck over.

Coach Mike Sullivan was quick to credit Tampa Bay.

“They defend hard,” he said. “They block shots. They have people in the lanes. They have a good support mechanism built in place when somebody gets beat. I thought we generated a fair amount of chances. We have to find a way to convert.”

Some production from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin wouldn’t hurt. Although not for a lack of effort (Malkin attempted 17 shots), the erstwhile Two-Headed Monster haven’t tickled the twine since “Geno” struck in Game 1 against the Caps back on April 28.

Sid’s been dry since April 21.

The game itself had an eerie, Halloween-type feel. Perfectly befitting Friday the 13th. Following a huge pad save by Matt Murray on Victor Hedman in the opening moments, Ryan Callahan applied a forearm to the back of Kris Letang’s head and drove No. 58 hard into the boards.

The former Ranger cooled his heels in the penalty box for five minutes. The Pens—sans Letang—did little with the gift opportunity.

Then Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop crumbled to the ice after playing the puck at the twelve-minute mark. The game was held up for several minutes before the Lightning stalwart was wheeled off the ice on a stretcher.

Enter backup Andrei Vasilevskiy, who by his own admission was “ice cold.” His condition didn’t prevent the 21-year-old Russian from stopping 25 of 26 shots to earn his second career playoff win.

Rallying around the youngster, the Bolts soon had the lead. With just over a minute remaining in the opening frame, Hedman sprang Alex Killorn with a beautiful bounce pass off the sideboards. Killorn cut around Olli Maatta and beat Murray between the pads with a slick backhand move.

Tampa Bay never looked back. With Malkin in the box for hooking, Ondrej Palat swept home a juicy rebound at 2:33 of the second period. At their counterpunching best, the Lightning capitalized on a Letang miscue late in the period to grab a commanding 3-0 lead.

The Pens finally broke through on the power play 55 seconds before the horn. Patric Hornqvist pounced on a short feed from Crosby to beat Vasilevskiy from the right faceoff dot.

“Hatric’s” tally provided the 18,554 in attendance with a glimmer of hope. However, despite a decided tilt in territorial play, the Pens couldn’t solve Vasilevskiy.

“I don’t think it was our best game,” Sullivan said afterward. “And that’s what we need in order to have success at this point in the season.”

Dumoulin Injured

Pens’ defenseman Brian Dumoulin was hurt in the closing minutes when Palat ran him face-first into the glass. The Biddeford, Maine native did not return.

No word yet on the nature or severity of the injury.

Tampa Bay speedster Tyler Johnson was injured late in the first period on a hard check by Chris Kunitz. The gritty Pens’ winger appeared to catch Johnson knee on knee.

Johnson returned to action and logged 12:29 of ice time.