Bolts Zap Penguins to Conclude Lost Weekend

In the grand scheme of things, this may well be remembered as the weekend the current NHL season slipped away from our Penguins. Smack in the middle of a critical five-game homestand dripping with make-or-break implications, we came up a cropper in back-to-back games.

Although yesterday’s 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Lightning bore scant resemblance to our wild ‘n’ whacky shutout loss to the Senators the previous day, it may hurt worse. That’s because we got off to a forceful start, dominating the visitors to the tune of a 14-2 first-period edge in shots on goal. Rickard Rakell staked us to a lead to boot, banging home his 22^nd goal of the campaign from the slot at 14:20 of the frame.

A shame we weren’t able to push another goal (or two) past Bolts backup goalie Jonas Johansson, but such is the way of things.

It was only a matter of time before the Lightning found their legs, which they did in the second period. Roughly seven minutes in, Brandon Hagel scooted up ice on a solo rush, feinted inside to create separation from Erik Karlsson, and wired the puck past Tristan Jarry from the left circle.

Then Nikita Kucherov asserted himself as few can do. The defending Ross Trophy winner started the play by cycling behind our net and feeding Jake Guentzel for a shot from the slot. Then Kucherov drifted into open space, called for the puck, and ripped it home.

Two-one Bolts after 40 minutes.

The Pens weren’t done, however. Working on a power play early in the third period, Kevin Hayes converted a second-chance opportunity at the side of the net to knot the score at 2-all. It was anyone’s game as our guys battled hard. Jarry even made a couple big saves on the nettlesome Hagel, including a sparking stop on a breakaway.

However, with three minutes to play the inevitable occurred. Victor Hedman stacked up Matt Grzelcyk as the Pens’ d-man attempted to exit our zone. Noel Acciari scooped up the loose rubber, but promptly had his pocket picked by Kucherov lurking in the weeds. The Bolts’ superstar left Karlsson in the dust and blew the puck past Jarry stick side.

Literally a lightning (or Lightning) strike of a goal.

My word, is this guy a player.

Our fate all-but-sealed, Mike Sullivan pulled Jarry, which led to a pair of empty-netters by Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul and the 5-2 final outcome.

Puckpourri

It’s interesting to note the Lightning are constructed very much like our Pens up front. They have a talented top-six that’s designed to score, and a nondescript bottom-six whose task is solely to prevent goals.

They’re just a bit better than us on both fronts.

Speaking of top-six, Evgeni Malkin sat out his fourth-straight game with an upper body injury. The Pens are 1-2-1 in Geno’s absence. With only two goals in our past two games, it’s safe to say he’s been missed.

Cody Glass tries, but simply isn’t working out in a top-six role. It didn’t help matters that Michael Bunting, red-hot of late, missed the game. He was involved in an auto accident near PPG Paints Arena on Saturday. According to reports, he wasn’t hurt.

Philip Tomasino returned to the lineup in his stead and was a minus-1 with no shots on goal in 13:36 of ice time.

No coach is perfect and no coach gets it right all the time. But Sullivan has a way of burying guys deep in his doghouse, sometimes in unwarranted fashion. Hayes is a classic example. Mothballed by Sully for nine consecutive games in December, the hulking forward has scored three goals in six games since returning to the lineup. While he’s not fast and therefore not a “Sully guy” per se, the 11-year vet’s proven he can be effective if used the right way.

Heading into Tuesday night’s game with Dan Bylsma’s Kraken, the Pens (18-19-8) have lost their toehold on the second Eastern Conference wild card spot. To make matters worse, just about all of our competition have multiple games in hand, including the Red Wings, who’ve won seven in a row since making a coaching change. And we’re about to embark on a murderous seven-game road trip.

Yikes.

Hidden stat: although masquerading as a near-.500 team, we have the third-worst regulation points percentage (.422) in the Eastern Conference. Eighth-worst overall.

Hidden stat No. 2: Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic have posted virtually identical numbers. Jarry’s boxcars read .886 save percentage, 3.32 goals against average and an 8-7-4 record. Ned’s….886 save percentage, 3.40 goals against average to go with a 7-7-4 record. They’re just about even in quality starts percentage and goals saved above (or in this case below) average.

Hockey’s a team sport. Perhaps their less-than-inspired numbers aren’t entirely on them.

Oh, and Guentzel is alive and well and thriving in Tampa Bay. A fixture on Kucherov’s line, Jake had two helpers yesterday. An impressive 21 goals and 42 points in 40 games overall.

Quality is quality, and Jake’s a quality player.