Takeaways: Defense, Goaltending Falter In Penguins' 5-3 Loss To Blackhawks

It's early in the season, but after three tough losses, the Pittsburgh Penguins put together their most complete effort of the young campaign Saturday in a 2-1 shootout win over the Dallas Stars, one of hockey's best teams. 

It seemed like a natural starting point to build for the Penguins, who had struggled to find consistency in the early going.

But they reverted right back to square one in their follow-up performance Tuesday.

The Penguins visited the Chicago Blackhawks and walked away with a 5-3 loss despite coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period. A late goal allowed by Sergei Murashov - one that he would certainly want back - forced a six-on-five situation for the Penguins at the end, where Tyleer Bertuzzi scored an empty-net goal to seal the win.

The Penguins were up to no good in the opening minute of the game yet again, which is becoming an unfortunate recurring theme for them. Defenseman Declan Carlile turned the puck over from below his own goal line, feeding a puck directly to the Hawks that resulted in a Teuvo Teravainen goal just 28 seconds into regulation.

Pittsburgh responded six minutes later, though, when captain Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell found themselves on a two-on-one. Crosby rifled the puck past Chicago goaltender Spencer Knight for his long-awaited first of the season to tie the game at 1-1. 

However, Roman Kantserov scored a power play goal near the end of the first period to restore the Blackhawks' lead, and he scored another goal midway through the second period to put Chicago up by two.

When all seemed to be going downhill for Pittsburgh, the fourth line of Blake Lizotte, Connor Dewar, and Nick Robertson created a chance off the rush in the offensive zone. Robertson finished the job to score his team-leading fourth goal for the Penguins at the end of the middle frame to bring the Penguins to within one. 

Midway through the third, the captain answered the bell again when he picked up some loose change at the net front to tie the score at 3-3. But, unfortunately, with a little more than four minutes left in regulation, Teravainen had the puck along the left wall just above the goal line in the offensive zone, and he threw it toward the net.

The puck unexpectedly trickled past Murashov, giving the Blackhawks the late lead and deflating the Penguins of any kind of life they had.

Here are some takeaways from this one:

- Special teams killed the Penguins in this game. 

It's hard to fault the penalty kill too much, as the Penguins allowed just their second power play goal of the season against the Hawks. But Pittsburgh's power play was 0-for-4, and minus the third opportunity, it looked like it was 0-for-4, which occurred against one of the worst penalty kills in the league.

Special teams was a huge reason the Penguins made the playoffs last season. The PK is keeping up, but the power play looks lost. Zone entries and faceoffs have been an issue, but so has personnel. 

They need to switch things up, and I think it starts with moving Malkin back to the second unit, when the power play was more effective. It's hard to keep Egor Chinakhov off that first unit, and Rickard Rakell is struggling enough that he can afford to be bumped down, too.

They need more guys willing to just rip the puck - other than Erik Karlsson, that is, as he took about five consecutive one-timers on the third power play and missed the net about seven times. He showed up, at least

- If it seems like I'm bringing up Robertson in a whole lot of recaps, it's because I am. He's been really, really good for the Penguins up to this point, and it's not often you see a team's leading goal-scorer on the fourth line. 

While the goal total speaks to Robertson's work ethic and the season he's had so far, it's not ideal for, again, your team's leading goal-scorer, to be on the fourth line. Maybe this is less of an issue with a team like the Penguins, who roll four lines. 

But the top-six has two guys with three goals, two guys with two (both of Crosby's came in this one), two guys with one, and a guy with zero. At the end of the day, that's not encouraging, especially when the two guys with three goals, Tommy Novak and Evgeni Malkin, have one goal between them in the last three games. 

Simply put, the top-six needs to produce more, and in particular, the first line. There were some encouraging signs from Crosby in this game, but neither Rust or Rakell are meshing with Crosby like they usually do. 

As a whole, the top-six needs to get going. I know the fourth line has been spectacular, but it's a combination Dan Muse could always put back together down the line. Right now, Robertson needs to be playing in the top-six.

- Another player who needs to get going is Egor Chinakhov. This is something that was brought up in a recent recap, but it feels like he is so close to scoring yet so far at the same time. 

He had a one-timer hit above 96 mph on the radar gun that he missed the net on in this one. He had a breakaway opportunity that he just missed as well. He has had some chances, but he is missing the net with frustrating frequency right now. 

In addition, the chemistry that was so evident with Novak and Malkin last season isn't really there to start this season.  

If I'm the coaching staff, I consider bumping both Chinakhov and Rickard Rakell - two goal-scorers struggling to score - to the third line with Ben Kindel for a bit. Elevate Robertson and Andrei Kuzmenko. Give Elmer Soderblom another look:

Robertson-Crosby-Rust
Kuzmenko-Novak-Malkin
Chinakhov-Kindel-Rakell
Dewar-Lizotte-Soderblom

Chinakhov and Rakell have combined for just one singular goal in eight games this season, and the one goal was scored by Chinakhov in game one. The Penguins need more from them, and they need more from them sooner rather than later.

- Murashov's fourth goal was not a good one. It's a play that he would want back, and it's a save he should have had. 

That said, I think some folks need to pump the brakes on expectations for the 22-year-old netminder with eight games of NHL experience. 

Young goaltenders are going to give up bad goals. Elite goaltenders are going to give up bad goals. And, sometimes, those bad goals will come at bad times. There is a difference between wanting or needing a save in a particular situation and it being unnacceptable that a save isn't made in that situation. 

Murashov should not have allowed that goal. But he should be allowed to surrender a bad goal or have a bad game as a young goaltender finding his NHL footing and as a guy whose team has not played well in front of him once this season. 

Expecting perfection - or, even, expecting that goaltenders won't allow any goals they should have - is a perfect way to set a young netminder up for failure. 

His team needed a save there, but he also needed his team to be better the rest of the night. Neither happened. That goal is an easier pill to swallow if the stakes weren't that high to begin with due to poor play from the rest of the team preceding it.

- Carlile has endured a rough couple of games. He coughed up the puck in a bad turnover on Chicago's first goal, and oftentimes, he finds himself playing like a forward.

This is not a slight to Carlile, but there is a difference between Erik Karlsson jumping up on a play and Carlile doing so. I think Carlile commits a bit too much offensively for the relative level of offensive talent he has, and it gets him in trouble sometimes. 

On a pairing with Karlsson, being too active can hurt more than help. He just needs to learn when to pick his spots better. And he also needs to have more awareness below the goal line in his own zone. 

He blocks a ton of shots, is mobile, and is physical. He's at his best when playing to his strengths and not trying to force plays. 

- A small yet relatively significant bright spot in this game was Crosby. 

He needed those two goals. It was only a matter of time before the captain broke through, and he finally did, which should, hopefully, get him going a bit.

I thought his line was a bit better tonight, but it could still use more speed, which is why I'd like to see Robertson reunited with Crosby. If Sid has finally found his legs, and Robertson and Rust can provide some speed on his wings, it could make for a lethal combination. 

- The Penguins next have the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights back-to-back Friday and Saturday. Needless to say, they are not the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Penguins tend to find a way to elevate against better competition, so hopefully, they can find another level like they did against the Stars Saturday. But they need to start beating some of the teams they should be beating, like the Hawks. 

Half the points on this tough Western road swing would be a good aim for the Penguins. Winning at least one of these games feels important. 

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