Musings: "It Just Didn't Fall in Our Favor" in Colorado

After a disappointing performance on Tuesday in Chicago, the Penguins put together a better effort on Friday in Colorado. Their start was particularly strong. But again, they ended up on the wrong side of the result, with the Avalanche winning 5-2.

Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored for Pittsburgh, while Arturs Silovs faced 32 shots and stopped a penalty shot from Nathan MacKinnon.

“I don't think that we played particularly bad today. I think we played a really good team,” Erik Karlsson said. “I think they capitalized on more chances than we did. I think we still got our breaks and got our looks. Obviously, we'd like to create a little bit more to give ourselves a little bit of better odds.

“But at the end of the day, I think that everybody competed today. I think that we worked hard and we tried to do the right thing, and it just didn't fall in our favor.”

The Penguins had to switch up the one line that has stayed together since Game 1, as Egor Chinakhov is being evaluated for a lower-body injury suffered in practice on Thursday.

Ville Koivunen slotted into his spot on the left wing alongside Tommy Novak and Malkin, and immediately made an impact. He made a beautiful little touch pass to Malkin as the franchise legend was coming through the neutral zone. Malkin entered the zone, cut into the slot and buried a shot while falling to the ice.

“I thought Ville played well. He made a really nice pass there on the goal in the first period,” Muse said. “I thought he had some other good (moments) just in terms of the playmaking. I thought it was a good night for him.”

Not long after, another Penguins franchise legend moved up the all-time rankings. Sidney Crosby earned his 1,110^th career assist, surpassing Joe Thornton for sole possession of seventh place on the NHL’s all-time assists list. The helper came when Rust redirected a perfect pass from his longtime teammate and linemate.

And while the Avalanche did get on the board before the first intermission, the Penguins came out strong after feeling like they weren’t ready to play against the Blackhawks. Pittsburgh carried play for most of the first period, outshot their opponent 14-5, and got rewarded on the scoreboard.

“I think we've kind of emphasized that our starts haven't been good for a while now,” Rust said. “And I think when you're not having good luck, or things aren't going really going your way in first periods, I think you just got to simplify them, play hard and simple. I thought that's exactly what we did here.”

But Colorado, one of the league’s perennial contenders, pushed back in the second, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead.

“When they started to take momentum, I didn't think we were able to put some shifts together to just pause it a little bit more,” Muse said.

Part of the issue was Pittsburgh’s power play, which has gone 0-for-20 since scoring twice in each of the first two games. They had a massive opportunity to swing the momentum after the Avalanche took a 3-2 lead. But they didn’t generate much in the first half before taking a penalty of their own. Colorado then scored on their abbreviated man-advantage.

“Obviously, it hasn't really worked in our favor lately,” Karlsson said. “We have our top guys on the power play for a reason. And when you're feeling good there, usually you feel good in the game, too. And obviously, the power play has been a little bit of a letdown for us lately. Maybe it’s bleeding a little bit into our game. It's unfortunate. We just got to find a way to turn it around.”

They have to turn it around quick, with a rested Vegas team waiting for the Penguins on Saturday night. To find a better result, Rust said they need better consistency.

“I think we obviously liked our start and our first period a lot better, but I think good teams are consistent not only night to night, but also period to period,” Rust said. “I think we learned that lesson.”