For the first time since early January, the Pittsburgh Penguins have lost back-to-back games in regulation.
While, on the surface, this doesn't seem like the worst thing, there are other potential ramifications from Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres that could - quite frankly - alter the course of the Penguins' season and playoff hopes.
In addition to their loss to the Sabres - which kept them in a second-place tie in the Metropolitan Division with the New York Islanders for the time being - they also lost forward Evgeni Malkin, who was assessed a game misconduct for a slash to the head of Sabres' defenseman Rasmus Dahlin early in the second period.
The Sabres scored on the ensuing power play via a low-slot shot from Josh Norris, and the call was upheld after yet another failed goaltender interference challenge by Penguins' head coach Dan Muse.
And even Penguins' players admit that things may have snowballed after the Malkin sequence and another goaltender interference call failing to go their way.
"It's not easy," said goaltender Arturs Silovs, who was dealt a tough hand Thursday and stopped 21 of 25 Buffalo shots on goal. "We get [a] five-minute major we have to kill. I think we did a good job. But, sure, one of the top players leaving, it's not the best. It's like, one of the top [players in] our offense. So, it's not easy to regroup, but we tried to."
Things started off a bit sloppy for the Penguins, as Ryan McLeod scored his league-leading fifth shorthanded goal of the season on a breakaway after a tricky play at the offensive blue line to elude Penguins' defenseman Kris Letang and put the Sabres up, 1-0.
However, the Penguins responded with a shorthanded goal of their own less than three minutes later, when Bryan Rust performed his signature power move around Norris and across the net-front for his 21st goal of the season to tie the game.
Then, the second-period shenanigans with Malkin ensued, and the Sabres were up, 2-1. Two minutes after Norris's go-ahead goal, the Penguins were on a power play but found themselves in the defensive zone, where they took a penalty. On the delayed call, Alex Tuch buried his 25th goal of the season to put the Sabres on top, 3-1, and Owen Power added one just past the midway point of the second period to make it 4-1.
Mattias Samuelsson added an empty-net goal late in third period to bury the Penguins for good and secure the 5-1 win.
Here are some thoughts and takeaways from this emotional loss:
- I'll get to Malkin in a second because I won't have many thoughts numbers-wise, but I sure have plenty of thoughts. And let's start with this goaltender interference.
And, yes, this was clearly goaltender interference.
I have not agreed with all of Muse's challenges for goaltender interference so far this season, but this one seemed clear as day. Josh Doan ventured to the blue paint unimpeded initially and made contact with Silovs before Letang made contact with him. And, even if Letang did make what was very little contact, it seemed inconsequential, as Doan made no ensuing effort to get out of the way of Silovs.
This was goaltender interference. I know it. Most of the internet knows it. Analysts know it. Silovs knows it, too.
"For sure," Silovs said. "You know, it's like... I think it was clearly goalie interference. Like, I don't know. Other guy gets a little touch, doesn't count. It was blatant. He didn't even try to avoid me. Went through me, and what am I supposed to do? Yeah, I don't think the refs tried to help us at all today."
Muse also knew it. In fact, he was sure about it.
"My view on it is goalie interference because their player skated in the blue paint, made contact with our goalie, which affected the play. Which is the rule," Muse said. "He came in and made contact. Afterward, there is a little bit of a push. He initiated the contact in there. By the rules, I thought it was goalie interference. I still feel like it's goalie interference. And it seems like it changes day to day right now.
"People are again going to maybe question some of the challenges I've made. There's been lower percentage [challenges]. This one, I thought, was pretty clear."
So, if I was sure of it, the internet was sure of it, analysts were sure of it, Silovs was sure of it, and Muse was sure of it, why aren't NHL officials sure of it?
There is a disconnect with what this rule actually constitutes now, and it needs to be addressed. Especially since the loser of the challenge is punished with a penalty.
Just an egregious one to miss tonight. I don't understand it.
- Speaking of egregious, let's talk about Malkin.
This is a 39-year-old franchise legend who badly wants another contract with the Penguins. That situation has become pretty public in the past week or so, even if Dubas prefers to keep negotiations private between he, Malkin, and agent J.P. Barry.
Your team is hanging onto second place in the Metro with the Islanders right on your heels in third and the surging Columbus Blue Jackets getting closer in the rearview. Your team is without its best player in Sidney Crosby for a few weeks, you have a guantlet of a schedule in March that is the hardest in the league, and despite this adversity, your team continues to battle and win most hockey games.
It's the time of year where pretty much every game is a must-win, but especially the game before the NHL trade deadline, when your GM just spoke about looking to add to the team on the forward front and defensive front to shore everything up for both a playoff run and the future.
And you go out and do this.
The cross-checks? Sure. They happen dozens of times per game. Matching cross-checks are one thing, but slashing the head of an opponent with your stick is another, and it comes at a time when this Penguins' team is trying to hold on without its captain.
Composure needs to be kept there. This is not Malkin's first rodeo with a stick infraction, so he's almost certainly going to miss some time. Not having Crosby AND Malkin could quite literally derail what has been a magical, expectation-defying season for this team, and it would all be the result of a selfish, heat-of-the-moment decision by a player this team counts on.
There is never a time and place for what Malkin did. But it was especially bad considering the circumstances around this team, this season, and this contract negotiation.
If the Penguins miss the playoffs, they can point to several things. But this would be looked back on as the catalyst to the collapse.
So, for Malkin's sake - assuming that he misses some time and that Crosby won't be back for at least another week - his team better find a way to ride out the storm.
- All that said, Muse offered a pretty strong statement to his team after the game.
I asked him what the message was to the team after a couple of regulation losses in a row - the first time that's happened since Jan. 10-11. This was an emotional loss, and the last time the Penguins had a condensed schedule was December, when an emotional loss against the Anaheim Ducks snowballed into an eight-game losing streak.
So how do the Penguins avoid that this time around?
"You can say the schedule... I think it's just this league in general this time of year, too," Muse said. "Like, be pissed off. I don't want anybody walking out of today seeing this as okay. You also gotta be quick to turn the page. So, you get home, you get some sleep, you get to the rink tomorrow, we've got to look at ways that we can be better, we've got to quickly turn the page, and we've got to be ready for this next game.
"That's where we're at, and that's an important part is you don't let things continue to build. And I'd say the same thing if we had a game that we really liked. You've got to be ready for the next one because these are all turning fast."
- Finally, Friday at 3:00 p.m. marks the NHL trade deadline.
Although Dubas already hinted at the types of deals and players he was looking for, the potential of not having Crosby or Malkin for this next stretch almost surely spells the need to add a forward - preferably, a center.
We'll see what happens. In any case, Dubas is not - contrary to some panicked belief on Twitter - going to suddenly pivot and have a fire sale.
No. This team deserves to be rewarded. They've earned that. And they're still in a divisional playoff spot. Dubas must stay the course, whatever that means.
So, buckle up, Penguins' fans. This is going to be a very interesting 24 hours.
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