Penguins Outed By ‘Canes, Fall 4-3 in OT

Our Penguins were outed last night en route to 4-3 overtime loss to the Kryptonite ‘Canes in Raleigh. As in out-worked, out-skated, out-checked, out-hustled and out-performed, to name but a few.

But don’t take my word for it.

Here’s what black-and-gold coach Mike Sullivan had to say about his team’s effort, or lack of.

“We just got out-competed,” he snapped in the aftermath. “They raised their level, and we didn’t push back. We got out-competed. We didn’t win puck battles. Our D would pinch on the walls, and we’d lose that battle. Their D would pinch on the walls and keep pucks alive. You’ve got to win the walls.”

About the only thing our Pens won was the first five minutes or so when we snatched a quick 2-0 lead on goals by Kevin Hayes and ex-Cane Michael Bunting. Then our hosts went to work while we…zzzz…

The second period was particularly galling/appalling as the ‘Canes proceeded to skate us into the Lenovo Center ice to the tune of a 14-5 edge in shots on goal. No great surprise that our two-goal lead morphed into a 3-2 deficit.

I don’t know what was said in our dressing room between periods, but I’d imagine Sullivan applied some heat to our collective breeches.

The pushback that I mentioned in my previous recap manifested at 1:51 of the third period when Erik Karlsson blasted a sizzling slap shot from the top of the left circle past former Pen Dustin Tokarski, courtesy of a pretty feed from d-partner Matt Grzelcyk. Partially atoning for a dismal bit of work by the pair on the ‘Canes first goal.

Although the Pens generally had the better of the play over the final 20 minutes of regulation, no more goals were forthcoming despite a late power-play opportunity. That included 3-on-3 overtime, which the ‘Canes pretty much dominated right up to the moment Sebastian Aho blew between Rickard Rakell and Kris Letang to bury the OT winner…and us.

Puckpourri

Alex Nedeljkovic started against his former team and stopped 27 of 31 shots. While you can hardly fault Ned for the loss, I can’t remember the last time one of our goalies stole a game.

At the opposite end of the ice, career AHL/NHL tweener Tokarski was largely untested.

To say the ‘Canes have our number is a vast understatement. We haven’t won in Raleigh since December 22, 2018, and are 3-7-5 against our Metro nemesis going back to 2019-20. All they do is work, work, work and hustle all over the ice while our Pens (fill in the blank)…

Nobody wearing the black-and-gold bathed themselves in glory. Letang and Marcus Pettersson had especially rough nights. Old friend Jordan Staal checked Evgeni Malkin to a standstill (zero shots on goal). The right wing slot next to Geno (recently manned by Cody Glass) continues to be a sore spot, if not an open wound.

Karlsson paced the attack with a goal (his fourth) and an assist. Grzelcyk notched his 20th assist. Letang bumped Ryan Graves to the press box.

Anthony Beauvillier returned to the lineup in place of injured Philip Tomasino. With a team-low 9:12 of ice time on the heels of a healthy scratch, the ex-Islander appears to be the latest resident of Sully’s doghouse.

Woof.

How long will Sullivan continue to leave Blake Lizotte stranded between Noel Acciari and Matt Nieto? After tallying nine points (including five goals) in nine games mostly as our third-line center, the peppery forward has a lone goal in his past nine and no points in five.

Frankly, he’s going to waste.

On the flip side, Glass has done next-to-nothing in an elevated role. Perhaps it’s time to swap ‘em out.

Hot ‘n’ Not

In a classic case of smoke and mirrors, the Pens (17-17-7, 41 points) slipped into the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot, a point ahead of Ottawa.

Don’t be deceived. The Sens have three games in hand. The Canadiens, Red Wings and CBJ, our next opponent, are heating up while we appear to be cooling down. Indeed, since our four-game winning streak of a month ago, we’ve gone a pedestrian 6-5-3, including 1-2-2 in our past five.