Takeaways: Penguins Drop Game 1 To Flyers In Sloppy Effort

There was a ton of anticipation heading into the first-round matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, as it was the first time in four years the Penguins had reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

But the Penguins did not have the look of a team that was ready for it.

In the series opener, the Flyers took down the Penguins by a narrow score of 3-2 in what was one of Pittsburgh's sloppier efforts of the season. Bryan Rust scored a goal to bring the Penguins within one with just a minute remaining in regulation, but it was not enough to force overtime, and the Penguins find themselves down in the best-of-seven series, 1-0. 

The Penguins were never really able to get to their game at all in this one, as Philadelphia's neutral zone play and counterattack were puzzles they couldn't solve. 

"I think we've got to just put pucks behind them," defenseman Ryan Shea said. "They had a really good neutral zone. We just can't let it rattle us and default to, I guess, old school hockey and just get it behind them and go to work there, and use our bodies, use our forecheck that's been good all year. I think once that happens, then the neutral zone starts to open up."

Aside from a few odd-man breaks - all of which Penguins' goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped - the first period was relatively uneventful for both teams, as there was no score after one and the Penguins were outshot, 10-5. There was a lot of physicality and some nastiness brewing, though, and at one point, Sidney Crosby ripped the helmet off Flyers' defenseman Jamie Drysdale, and Drysdale continued to play without his helmet. Crosby was called for roughing, and Drysdale was not called for continuing to play - although he was assessed an interference penalty. 

Much was the same in the first half the second period, but the Flyers finally got rewarded for their efforts when Drysdale threw a puck toward the net from the right circle, and it found its way through traffic and past Skinner to give Philadelphia the 1-0 lead.

The Penguins responded six and a half minutes later, though, after building a little bit of momentum near the end of the middle frame. They were pressuring in the offensive zone, and they had a few scoring chances and a few big rebounds from Flyers' goaltender Dan Vladar. 

Tommy Novak pounced on one of those rebounds, and he executed a beautiful no-look backhand pass from the goal line back to Evgeni Malkin, who was waiting at the bottom of the right circle. Malkin put it home to tie the game, and the Penguins seemed to be on the upswing.

However, a late-period penalty by Anthony Mantha thwarted some of that momentum, and that carried into the third period. At the midway point of the third, Travis Sanheim made a nice play to get off a shot from the slot, and he restored the Flyers' lead at 2-1. The Penguins had trouble generating much of anything after that, and rookie Porter Martone scored the eventual game-winner with a snipe for his first career playoff goal with two and a half minutes remaining in regulation, making Rust's goal moot.

There were a lot of issues for the Penguins in this one - from their slogged start to their sloppy play, especially along the offensive blue line and in the neutral zone - but the power play continues to be an area that needs a bit of improvement. After being in the top-five for the vast majority of the season, the Penguins' PP dropped to seventh in the league (24.1 percent) before the end of the regular season, and they were 0-for-2 in this one. 

Philadelphia's penalty kill was ranked 22nd (77.6 percent) during the regular season, so the Penguins need to find a way to get back to basics on the man advantage. 

"I think the first one there is just a little bit of the execution, a little bit of the timing," head coach Dan Muse said. "And then, that kind of led into some of the breakouts as well.

"I mean, listen, this group has done a good job this year. It's part of it. Just like our team game, I think it's got to be a quick regroup there with that, and that's what we expect to see."

On the flip side, the Penguins' penalty kill with Blake Lizotte back in the lineup was outstanding, neutralizing all three Flyers' power play opportunities and generating some chances the other way. 

Crosby commended the work of the PK unit and hopes the power play can reward those guys on the other end of it in Game 2.

"Really good. They're a dangerous power play, and I thought they did a good job of giving us momentum from the kills," Crosby said. "So, yeah, it's unfortunate that we couldn't help them on the other side."

The Penguins will face the Flyers in Game 2 Monday at 7:00 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh.

- This is the sloppiest game I've seen the Penguins play in quite a while. They had absolutely nothing for most of the night, and it was clear that the Flyers' neutral zone trap was frustrating them immensely. 

It also didn't help that emotions were running high in this one from the jump, and that was the case with everyone - even the veterans. Players were gripping sticks too tight, making poor decisions with the puck (especially along the offensive blue line, where Malkin turned the puck over twice, leading to breakaways the other way), and trying to look for the perfect play instead of simplifying and getting pucks to the net.

This is the way Rick Tocchet's Flyers play when they aren't trailing in a game, and it's the same blueprint teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators use. The key to Monday's game for the Penguins will be getting ahead early and forcing the Flyers to cheat for offense - hopefully, exposing that neutral zone a whole lot more. 

- I'm not sure the Penguins' top-six is optimal at the moment. 

I understand that Rickard Rakell has played very well at center down the stretch and for most of the season, so I think most of the reasoning behind the lines being what they are is to keep Rakell in that position while distributing the scoring. I also understand that the Rakell-Crosby-Rust combo hasn't worked quite as well this season as in years past.

But the second line earlier this season that was Egor Chinakhov, Tommy Novak, and Evgeni Malkin? They were operating like a machine. My feeling is that the Penguins simply like Rakell better in that 2C position than they do Novak, which makes sense, given Rakell's play. 

But, if the Penguins continue to struggle generating offense in Game 2, I'd highly consider switching things up. Time is not a luxury in the playoffs, and resorting to what's familiar may actually work in their favor if they're in a pinch.

- Skinner was outstanding in this game. In the live game blog I had going, there were three or four instances of "Skinner makes a nice save on an odd-man break" or something to that effect.

In fact, he made three breakaway stops in the second period alone on Trevor Zegras, Noah Cates, and Owen Tippett. 

The Penguins need to make his job a whole lot easier in Game 2, but he kept him in this game. In my book, he is the clear starter for Game 2. It shouldn't even be a question after this performance. 

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