Kyle Dubas called Tuesday’s matchup in Tampa a “massive game” heading into the contest, asking if the Penguins could clean up a lot of what they let slip in their home-and-home with Philadelphia, and find their way against two difficult opponents on the road.
“That’s for me, as I continue to get to know and learn this group, the different things that I'm looking for that will be instructive to how we dictate the course of where we go in the second half of the year,” Dubas said.
It’s pretty safe to say the Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM didn’t find them tonight in the team’s 3-1 setback to the Lightning at Amalie Arena, where Jake Guentzel scored Pittsburgh’s lone goal and Tristan Jarry made 25 saves. While the Penguins showed more signs of life in the third period compared to the previous 40 minutes, it was too little, too late.
The Penguins didn’t get out to the start they wanted against a team that had also thoroughly outplayed them in the first period of their last meeting on Nov. 30 (a 4-2 Pittsburgh win). They fell behind both on the scoreboard, as the Lightning got a power-play goal, and on the shot clock (11-4). Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan said he felt the group had opportunities to put pucks on net, but passed them up to make lateral plays that never materialized.
“It’s not what we want. We need everybody to start right away. Puck drops at 7:10, and we should start playing,” Evgeni Malkin said. “We have a good team here, and just like, play physical, pressure in every zone, and don’t wait and see how the game is going, you know?”
Tampa’s power play, ranked second in the NHL entering tonight, scored again on the man-advantage in the second period – converting half of their opportunities. It was a tough night on both sides of special teams for the Penguins, whose power-play woes continued. They went 0-for-4, which included a chunk of 5-on-3 time that featured a Lightning player losing their stick at one point. That means they are now 0-for-34 dating back to Nov. 11.
“You see Tampa score like every game, and they feel confidence. When you lead the game, when you control the game 2-0, 3-0, you feel so much better. Of course, if we score a couple power-play goals, everybody feels better,” Malkin said.
“Now, different game. You have three, four, five power plays every night, and you see we try on the power play, and we don’t feel good. We lost the puck on the blue line, they had a 2-on-1, breakaway, because we don’t have confidence and we’re nervous. It’s how it affects us.”
The Penguins quite couldn’t find a rhythm at even strength either, with the coaching staff continuously shuffling the lines looking for a spark. The Penguins started the game by moving Reilly Smith off of Evgeni Malkin’s line for the first time this season. He moved from left wing to right wing alongside Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby, while Rust slotted into the spot that Smith had vacated.
But as the night went along, the Penguins tried other different combinations, deploying Crosby and Malkin together with Guentzel at one point; having Eller skate alongside Malkin; and moving Smith into the bottom six.
The Penguins didn’t have Rust at their disposal in the third period, as he left the game after the second. Sullivan said the winger, who recently missed three games, is being evaluated for an upper-body injury.
The Penguins did start playing on their toes more in the final frame, and hopefully, they can build on that moving forward as they try to get back on track. Because while this marked the first night they hadn't gotten at least a point since Nov. 24 vs. Buffalo (going 2-0-3), there hasn't been much to like about Pittsburgh's play in the last three.
“Obviously, when you don't have success, your confidence isn't at an all-time high, and these guys are human beings,” Sullivan said. “But we've got to find a way to fight through it.”
