Penguins Update: Mama Said There’d be Games Like This

I don’t think The Shirelles had hockey in mind back in 1961 when they recorded their hit single, Mama Said (There’d be Days Like This). But it seemed a fitting way to describe last night’s fiasco at PPG Paints Arena.

Indeed, very little went right for our Penguins, while the Capitals it seemed could do no wrong.

It didn’t start out that way. Fueled by two early power plays, the Pens swarmed like bees around a honeycomb. But our guys couldn’t find the sweet spot behind rookie goalie Vitek Vanacek and the Caps gradually took charge, grinding us to dust en route to a 3-1 black-and-gold defeat that was uglier than the score would indicate.

It wasn’t so much that we lost as how we lost that I found disturbing. Following a scoreless first period we pretty much self-destructed in the second frame, drawing a succession of dumb penalties while allowing our rivals to dominate play. Fueled by the Pens’ largesse, the Caps racked up an astonishing 18-5 edge in shots on goal during the period and snatched the lead on tallies by Conor Sheary (sigh) and Jakub Vrana.

A two-goal deficit isn’t insurmountable, especially for this bunch. But I didn’t feel too warm-and-fuzzy about our chances entering the third period. My foreboding proved well-founded, as Lars Eller struck 69 seconds in to pretty much put the game on ice.

Speaking of ice, our guys pretty much melted into it after that. We were outshot, outworked, outhustled…pretty much out-everythinged. Looking back at my notes, I used adjectives like sloppy, languid and disinterested to describe our play.

If the previous two games gave hope for better things to come, this one revealed our blemishes. Kind of like the concealer we used to hide our flaws wore off, exposing some rather unsightly warts.

We didn’t show a discernable pulse until about five minutes remained, when Zach Aston-Reese converted a nice feed from Teddy Blueger into his third goal in as many games. After that, the black and gold displayed some jump. Far too little, too late.

You can’t play 15 minutes out of 60 and expect to win.

Puckpourri

The Caps outshot us, 42-27. Faceoffs were even. The Pens killed off five power plays, but seemed to exhaust themselves in the process. Our power(less) play was 0-for-3.

All things considered, Tristan Jarry turned in a near-heroic performance, stopping 39 shots for a .929 save percentage. But he didn’t have much help.

Obviously displeased by what he saw, coach Mike Sullivan juggled his lines. Brandon Tanev moved up to the second unit while Kasperi Kapanen dropped to the third line.

Seems like Sheary enjoys playing against his ex-mates. He has five goals against us, including a pair of two-goal games.

Camp Bow-Wow

There’s so much bad, it’s hard to know where to begin. I guess I’ll start with the second line. Evgeni Malkin unleashed six shots on goal, but aside from that there wasn’t much to like about his performance. He drew a careless penalty early in the second period that got the ball rolling in the wrong direction, while finishing a minus-two. Forty percent on draws.

For lack of a better way to describe him, “Geno” looked pouty.

At least he was visible. Which is more than I can say for Kapanen (Kasperi the Friendly Ghost?). His demotion was richly deserved.

I’m beginning to agree with Other Rick on Jason Zucker. At best, he’s beginning to remind me of David Perron, a good hockey player who, for whatever reasons, simply didn’t produce for the black and gold. At worst? Jim McGeough, a junior hockey scoring champion who possessed demon speed but bricks for hands. Given Zucker’s difficulty in giving and receiving passes, I’m leaning toward the latter.

Dear Lord, is Mark Jankowski soft. On a couple of occasions he had a chance to hammer the puck out of our end while killing penalties but failed to do so. I realize he isn’t getting prime ice time, but he’s doing next to nothing. His play with the Pens has mirrored his efforts in Calgary…occasional flashes followed by long, unproductive stretches.

We need more. A lot more.

This really doesn’t belong under the Camp Bow-Wow heading. But following a meteoric start, Pierre-Olivier Joseph is beginning to make rookie mistakes. Lots of them, especially in the defensive zone. Understandable to a degree. After all, he was thrown into the deep end pretty much from the get-go. But I’m hoping his most recent play isn’t a trend.