Penguins Mauled By Panthers, 3-1, Lose Fourth in a Row

It’s come to this.

In the wake of the Penguins’ 3-1 loss to the Panthers last night…our fourth loss in a row…TV color analyst Mike Rupp groped for a silver lining by stating, “This one feels different.”

Colby Armstrong and Jay Caufield parroted those sentiments in the studio during the post-game show.

I won’t deny our guys gave a better account of themselves (they hadn’t set the bar too high of late). And I fully understand the need to latch onto a positive…any positive. Still, when you’re trying to spin a loss, competitive or otherwise, as some sort of victory?

How the mighty have fallen.

It’s really sad to see this once proud team struggling so. Sooner or later it happens to all championship teams. No one stays on top forever. Even the great Canadiens, Islanders and Oilers dynasties of the 1970s and ‘80s eventually fell on hard times.

That doesn’t make it any less painful to watch.

Stars age out and other players move on.

One of the guys who moved on, Evan Rodrigues, assisted on the Panthers’ go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal. E-Rod has six goals and 21 points in 26 games for the cats, along with a sterling plus-15.

There-in lies the crux of the Pens’ problems. We no longer have the organizational depth to support our graying but still capable core. Heck, back in ’14-15 we barely made the playoffs and were bounced from the first round by the Rangers because we relied too heavily on Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.

They couldn’t carry us then, when they were in their primes. They’re certainly not going to carry us now.

Then-GM Jim Rutherford responded by importing Phil Kessel from Toronto, a move that greatly enhanced our star power. However, he also made it a priority to add a trio of solid depth pieces in Matt Cullen, Nick Bonino and Eric Fehr. Just as important, there was a crop of eager, young kids (Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary, Tom Kuhnhackl) waiting in the wings at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, just itching for a promotion to the big-time.

By design or otherwise, new GM Kyle Dubas tried mightily to emulate JR this summer. His blockbuster addition of Erik Karlsson smacked of the Kessel deal. Again following in JR’s footsteps, he added a passel of established veterans such as Reilly Smith, Lars Eller, Noel Acciari and Matt Nieto to form a new supporting cast. However, due to injuries, ineffectiveness or a combination of both, his moves haven’t borne the same fruit.

The missing ingredient is young talent. Our system is virtually bankrupt of young players who can step in and contribute in a meaningful way. That includes comparative kids like Drew O’Connor and Radim Zohorna, who unfortunately are proving to be more suspect than prospect.

The recent rash of injuries to top-sixers Rust and Rickard Rakell, not to mention Acciari and Nieto, have stripped away the veneer and exposed our utter lack of organizational depth. While help may eventually come in the form of recent first-rounders Brayden Yager and Owen Pickering, it isn’t likely to arrive soon enough to help us climb out of the mammoth hole we’re digging.

As for the game itself? True to Rupper’s word the Pens, indeed, hung tough for 40 minutes until the Panthers’ relentless forecheck took over in the third period.

Smith scored the game’s first goal eight minutes into the second period off the rush, courtesy of a brilliant, spinning feed from Malkin from the sideboards.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson tied it for the home team nine minutes later, banging the puck past Tristan Jarry from the doorstep on the heels of a net-front scrum.

The Panthers notched the game-winner at 6:10 of the third period. Rodrigues ripped off a shot from the right circle that Jarry couldn’t handle. The rebound popped out to Eetu Luostarinen in the low slot. Easy pickins. Aleksander Barkov sealed the deal with an empty-netter in the final minute following yet another failed black-and-gold power play.

Puckpourri

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Panthers held the high-ground in shot attempts (72-52), shots on goal (33-27) and scoring chances (34-27). High-danger chances were even at 14-apiece.

Smith’s goal was his first in over a month, snapping an ugly 15-game goalless drought. Jarry stopped 30 of 32 shots (.938 save percentage) in a losing cause. Can’t blame our current struggles on our goaltending. For the most part, it’s been top-notch.

Prior to the game the Pens made wholesale roster moves. Joona Koppanen and Alex Nylander caught the bus to Wilkes while forwards Valtteri Puustinen, Jonathan Gruden and Marc Johnstone joined the team. The latter duo provided some grit and aggression (three hits) in limited ice time. Skating on the second line, Puustinen assisted on Smith’s goal. That makes two helpers in two NHL games for Puusty.

The power play was 0-for-3, running our futility streak to 0-for-37. We have virtually no presence below the faceoff dots. Heck, bring Patric Hornqvist, honored in a pregame ceremony, out of retirement. Or Brian Boyle. Or Scary Gary Roberts. Somebody…anybody…who can provide a presence down low.

GAG Penguins?

Back in the early ‘70s the Rangers featured the GAG Line of Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert and future Pen Vic Hadfield, so named because they scored a “goal a game.”

Perhaps a fitting nickname for our Pens, who’ve mustered all of three goals in our past three games (16 in our past eight).

Again, how the mighty have fallen.

Time for a Change?

I need to be clear. I’m not pinning our present struggles solely on Mike Sullivan and the coaching staff. There are so many factors affecting our performance, including the aforementioned depth issues and our epically dreadful power play.

However, Sully and his staff seem to have few, if any, solutions. If we have any designs on salvaging the season, something’s gotta give…and soon.

Two other clubs have replaced coaches this season, with favorable results. The mega-talented Oilers were 3-9-1 under the deposed Jay Woodcroft, 8-3 with Kris Knoblauch at the helm. The Wild were 5-10-4 under butt-kicking Dean Evason. They’re 4-2 with former Baby Pens skipper John Hynes behind the bench.

I’m not promising a coaching change would do the same for us…as already mentioned our problems go much deeper than the coaching staff. But if a worthy candidate can be found, it might be time for a change.

Good coach and better man that he is, I can’t help but feel the Pens are too comfortable with Sullivan. Like an old pair slippers. Or an authority figure you tune out when they start to lecture.

If you don’t want to lose Sully altogether, I get it. Kick him upstairs to a front office post. But something needs to be done…and soon.

On Deck

The Pens (11-12-3) return to the ‘Burgh for a Tuesday night tilt against old friend Jason Zucker and the vastly improved Coyotes (13-10-2). Then it’s off to Montreal on Wednesday night and Toronto on Saturday night.

We’re currently four points out from a wild-card spot.

A last little note. Former Pens defensemen Robert Bortuzzo was acquired by the Islanders from the Blues for a seventh-round pick. Always liked “Borts,” tough, willing, a team-first player and character guy through and through.