New Faces, Same Result: Penguins Crowned by Kings

It was a beautiful play. The kind Penguins fans dream of.

With time ticking down in the first period and the Pens trailing 1-0, Justin Schultz approached the right faceoff circle with speed. Anticipating a shot, a Kings defenseman dropped to the ice.

Head up, Schultz coolly skated around the prone defender and carried the puck behind the net. Spotting Jason Zucker to the left of the cage, Schultz fed him a picture-perfect pass. Zucker quickly moved it to Sidney Crosby in the slot, who roofed it over Kings netminder Calvin Peterson as only Sid can do.

Another game-changing goal by No. 87, right?

Wrong.

To borrow from the old Johnny Cash tune I Walk the Line, Sid’s shot hit the crossbar and tightroped the goal line but never crossed it. Instead of entering the dressing room on an upswing, our guys still trailed by a goal.

So it goes for our Penguins these days. The faces may have changed but the results are the same. Another regulation loss, our season-high fourth in a row.

Not to overstate the obvious, but this is a lousy time for a slump. The Flyers, Islanders and Hurricanes…not to mention the stubborn Blue Jackets…are climbing up our collective tailpipe. As unfathomable as it may seem given how well we’ve played for most of the season, we’re only five points away from missing the playoffs.

Five points.

That’s not much of a cushion.  Especially with the way we’ve been playing lately.

I only watched the front half of the game so I can’t comment on the third period. Judging by the shot totals, the Pens came on after a sluggish start. But I can comment on the portion I watched. And what I saw was disturbing.

Our guys looked slow, lifeless and uninterested. Per our recent pattern, we spent most of the first period chasing the puck and the puck carrier and precious little time actually possessing it. I didn’t see anything resembling an effective cycle down low, nor were we winning many puck battles. Puck support, especially in the offensive zone, was virtually non-existent.

Had Patric Hornqvist not taken it upon himself to bull through the entire Kings team at 6:42 of the third period to set the stage for Bryan Rust’s redirect, we likely wouldn’t have scored.

Too bad we can’t clone “Horny.” Or at least his enormous drive and heart. About 19 other guys could’ve used a transplant.

Speed, energy, puck support, grit. These are supposed to be hallmarks of our game. Instead, they’re producing a series of red flags.

It’s as if the hockey gods suddenly swapped out last year’s team for this one. All that’s missing is Phil Kessel leisurely gliding to the bench for a line change while the opposition streaks into our zone on an odd-man break.

Speaking of, that’s about what happened on the Kings’ second goal and eventual game winner. Trevor Lewis weaved past our guys like so many pylons in an agility drill before beating Tristan Jarry on a second-chance opportunity. The Pens…and I’m talking Sid’s line and the ‘top’ defensive pairing…basically stood around and watched.

While I’m dishing out blame, the collective play of Kris Letang and Jack Johnson continues to sink faster than the anchor on the Titanic after the ill-fated liner struck an iceberg. We desperately need to get Brian Dumoulin and John Marino back…the sooner the better.

In the meantime, coach Mike Sullivan and his staff need to explore other options. While they’re at it, they need to figure out what’s broke with this team and fix it…in a hurry.

Precious points are slipping away.

Puckpourri

Newcomers Patrick Marleau, Evan Rodrigues and Conor Sheary joined the lineup last night.

Skating on the first line with Crosby and Zucker, Sheary registered one shot on goal and was a minus-1 in 18:14 of ice time.

Marleau recorded two hits and a shot on goal while skating with Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev. Rodrigues filled in on the fourth line with Dominik Simon (four shots on goal) and Sam Lafferty and won four of five face-offs.

Lafferty (a team-low 5:59 TOI) replaced Jared McCann, who sat out for an unspecified reason.