Wins a Must for Struggling Penguins

There’s an old sports adage that states good teams find a way to win. The inverse is also true…bad teams find a way to lose.

Right now, the Pens are giving a really good impersonation of a bad team. At a critical point in the season…one where their very playoff lives are on the line…our guys are finding ways to lose.

Indeed, last night’s gut-wrenching 4-3 overtime loss to Buffalo followed an all-too-familiar script. Pens take lead. Pens blow lead in closing minutes. Pens lose game in overtime.

If I didn’t know better, I’d swear I was watching a Groundhog Day replay of our Stadium Series loss to the Flyers last Saturday. Same unsettling pattern. Right down to goalie Matt Murray’s disturbing habit of yielding soft goals at precisely the wrong time.

Yes, you can argue…rightfully so…that Rasmus Dahlin was offside entering the Pens’ zone on the sequence that led to Conor Sheary’s game-winning snipe from the slot. For the record, the diminutive forward’s second goal and third point of the night. Perhaps the good folks in Toronto feared a full-fledged riot on the Niagara Escarpment if they disallowed the goal.

However, you make your own luck. The Pens should never have been in this position in the first place.

True, we’re presently playing without our top defensive pairing of Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin…certainly a huge mitigating factor. Although, truth be told, Jusso Riikola and Zach Trotman have done a more-than-admirable job filling in.

Still, our inability to close games out and secure precious points is alarming, to say the least. This is the second time this season we’ve blown a regulation lead and succumbed to Buffalo in overtime. Similarly, we coughed up early leads in an overtime loss to Boston and a shootout loss to Montreal.

It’s a far cry from our recent Cup seasons, when the Pens went an astounding 65-0 when leading after two periods. Then again, we’re not the same team. Not by a long shot. We’ve lost 17 games in which we’ve scored first…11 in regulation play. That’s a lot of games to come up empty. A lot of points to fritter away.

A hockey buddy, Billy Ellis, opined following the dismal loss to Philly that the Pens seem to be in search of an identity. I agree. While for the most part necessary, the trades that brought in newcomers Nick Bjugstad, Jared McCann, Marcus Pettersson and now Erik Gudbranson have altered the team’s chemistry. It takes time for new guys to assimilate, both on the ice and in the locker room. A luxury the Pens’ might not have as the season winds down and valuable points slip away.

Consistency’s been an issue, too. In fact, the only thing consistent about this team is its inconsistency. Since a 10-1 hot streak around the holidays, the Pens have gone a languid 8-9-3. Take away our eight-game winning streak, when all the stars aligned, and we’re a decidedly pedestrian 25-22-9 for the season. That’s not going to cut it.

Wish I had some answers. Aside from juggling lines and shuffling guys in and out of the lineup, I’m sure Mike Sullivan and the coaching staff do, too. Some attention to detail…especially in the defensive zone…would help, along with full 60-minute efforts.

Too, Murray or Casey DeSmith or whoever guards the black-and-gold net has to come up with a big save with a game on the line. Sometimes you need your goalie to steal a win. With precious few exceptions, that hasn’t happened since announcer Mike Lange’s proverbial eighth-grade picnic.

It would help immensely if Phil Kessel would do what he’s supposed to do…score goals. He’s gone 14 games without one. Creative as he is, “Phil the Thrill” simply doesn’t do enough other things well to compensate for not tickling the twine. We need Patric Hornqvist to wake up, too, although he’s shown signs of life with the recent move to the top line.

Bottom line? Right now, I sense the Pens are emotionally fragile. It’s almost as if they expect something to go wrong at critical junctures. And if they don’t believe in themselves and each other?

Bad things happen at the worst times. Like last night.