Bad Losses Plague Penguins

“Stop messing around and take the (rhymes with ma’am) puck to the net!” I hollered at the big screen TV from my favorite perch at the Pennsbury Pub & Grille. “Goooooooooo!”

The object of my rant? The usually redoubtable Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.

One of the ladies watching the game shot me a look of wide-eyed wonder. “I’ve never heard you swear before!”

My irritation with the proceedings had caused me to morph from my normally mild-mannered self into somewhat of a raving lunatic. The Penguins have a way of doing that to a guy.

To say Sunday night’s come-from-in-front overtime loss to the Flyers was frustrating would be akin to describing the Grand Canyon as a pretty big ditch. Enormously frustrating is more like it. With the game virtually in their collective hip pockets, our guys conspired to fritter this one away. An all-too-familiar script these days.

With 18.8 seconds left in regulation play and Flyers’ goalie Carter Hart pulled in favor of an extra attacker, our three forwards—Jared McCann, Bryan Rust and Crosby—got trapped floating in the neutral zone in search of easy plunder, which led to a 4-on-2 break the other way. Travis Konecny promptly set up James van Riemsdyk in the slot for the game-tying goal.

Yeah, I know it was the second of back-to-back games and our guys were probably a little gassed. Crosby, for one, logged a robust 45:02 of ice time over the weekend. Still, with less than 20 seconds standing between you and two points, you find a way to get back and help out. Neither Sid nor McCann nor Rust did.

What’s that old boxing adage? Protect yourself at all times? In hockey, it’s play to the whistle. Or in this case…the horn. The Pens didn’t play to the final horn and it cost ‘em.

Inexcusable.

“They don’t know how to play situational hockey,” moaned Paulie, one of my hockey buds.

Truer words were never spoken.

The thought of overtime made me cringe. After all, it hasn’t exactly been the Pens’ domain this season (5-7 heading into last night). Truly, I hoped we’d play a little more conservatively and get to the shootout, where I thought our chances might be better.

With the final seconds ticking off the clock and the puck in the Flyers’ end, I still felt uneasy. “They’ve got time for one more rush,” I mumbled to no one in particular. Sure enough, Sean Courturier works a give-and-go with Shayne Gostisbehere, bursts around Crosby in the neutral zone and zooms into the Pens’ zone on a 2-on-1.

The results? All-too-predictable. He shoots and scores.

Game, set and match to Philly.

Although practically a carbon copy of our Stadium Series loss to the Flyers three weeks ago, I don’t necessarily lay this one at goalie Matt Murray’s feet. Yeah, he’s gotta make a big save with the game on the line. But echoing Paulie’s sentiments, the Pens have got to do a better job of insulating their goalies in crucial situations.

Last night, they failed miserably.

Nor is this an isolated incident but a trend…and a disturbing one at that. Off the top of my head, this is the fourth time the Pens have blown a late lead and succumbed in overtime…twice to Buffalo and twice to Philly. As it stands now, a couple of non-playoff teams.

With Montreal sputtering at 81 points…seven behind our Pens…and the Flyers a full 10 points in our rear-view mirror, our largesse isn’t liable to prevent us from making the playoffs. However, it most certainly can cost us in other ways, especially since we still have a legit shot at winning the Metro Division crown and thus drawing a favorable first-round match-up.

I’ll close by repeating my opening sentiments. Once and for all, the Pens need to stop messing around.