After a dominant effort against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins travelled to Boston to take on the Bruins Tuesday night, a team they had lost three straight games to.
Unfortunately, they walked away with the same result.
The Penguins struggled in the first period, and despite finding their game in the latter two periods, the Bruins bested them, 2-1. All three goals were scored in the first period of play, with Erik Karlsson opening the scoring for Pittsburgh just 42 seconds into the game and Marat Khusnutdinov and Casey Mittelstadt scoring both of Boston's goals by the six-minute mark of regulation.
The rest of the game was a tight-checking goaltending battle, and Penguins' netminder Stuart Skinner was solid early on and throughout, stopping 26 of 29 Bruins' shots. However, Boston's Jeremy Swayman put on a stellar performance - especially in the third period, when the Penguins were piling on an onslaught - allowing just one goal on 35 shots.
Even though they were completely out of sorts in the first period and were lucky to be down by only one, the Penguins really found their game in the second and third periods. It just wasn't enough, and they earned their fourth-straight loss against a Boston team that always seems to give them finishing fits.
Here are a few notes and takeaways from this one:
- Swayman was brilliant in this game. He made some ridiculous saves in the final frame to preserve his team's lead, and he never lost his composure, even as the Penguins were very heavily pressuring.
Skinner was good, too, especially on an opening sequence in which he was forced to make a few nice stops prior to Karlsson's goal. The two goals against were primarily a result of the Penguins' defense breaking down in front of him.
Gotta love a good goaltending battle, even if that comes at the expense of scoring.
- There's no going around how sloppy the Penguins were early on, and I haven't seen them play that way since the holiday break. Their forwards were completely losing track of guys in the high-danger areas. The defensemen were caught puck-watching and with feet of stone.
After Boston's second goal - which was just 50 seconds after the first - head coach Dan Muse used the Penguins' sole timeout. Whatever he said must have worked because the Penguins were buzzing for most of the rest of the game.
But those first six minutes killed them. And I'm sure they'd want both plays back.
- On a positive note, Karlsson, the lone goal-scorer, was on a whole other level Tuesday.
He finished with a team-high six shots and 16 shot attempts. He was generating offense at will, continuing his excellent work on the penalty kill, running a smooth power play, aiding the team in transition, and making a few key defensive plays throughout.
Against pretty much any other team, Karlsson probably has about four goals. But he, like his teammates, simply couldn't crack Swayman as the game progressed and got better for him.
Without Crosby, the Penguins will be relying on Karlsson to generate a lot of offense. I thought he was the game's best player, and it wasn't particularly close.
- I continue to be a bit baffled by the Penguins' refusal to use Ben Kindel and/or Egor Chinakhov on their first power play unit and in six-on-five situations.
Kindel was very good again on Tuesday, and he has, arguably, been their best player for the better part of this post-holiday run. If he hasn't been their very best player, he's certainly been their most consistent on a night-in, night-out basis. His vision and puck distribution skills - especially from down low - could be weapons in either situation.
And then there's Chinakhov. Here's a guy who has 10 goals in his last 21 games - and, indisputably, the best shot on the team - and he's not out there with the game on the line? Given Chinakhov's defensive play and puck skills with the Penguins, too, there's really no reason to exclude him in situations where the team needs to score a goal.
Rickard Rakell is a good player. So is Anthony Mantha. So is Bryan Rust. But I'd swap out two of those three for the other two without hesitation on the power play and at least one of them during six-on-five.
- Faceoffs are a legitimate problem for the Penguins right now, and it's especially hurting them on key offensive zone draws that require possession to be established.
The Penguins were just 16 of 48 (33 percent) on faceoffs Tuesday, and they've gone 68 of 207 for an abysmal faceoff win percentage of 32.9 percent. And, according to Penguins' historian Bob Grove, Sidney Crosby had taken a whopping 38.6 percent of all Penguins' faceoffs (1,171 of 3,030 this season before his injury.
The next closest player? Kindel, who had taken 428 going into Tuesday's game.
- The NHL trade deadline is Friday, Mar. 6 at 3:00 p.m. ET. Crosby is injured, Blake Lizotte is day-to-day, and the injury statuses of Tristan Broz and Filip Hallander remian unclear at this point.
The Penguins badly need a center, and the reality is that this season, they may have to seek options externally. This will definitely be a storyline to monitor this week.
- This is the time of year where scoreboard watching becomes a daily routine.
The Washington Capitals lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime, 3-2. The Carolina Hurricanes lost to the Seattle Kraken Monday night. The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2, and they are now just five points behind the Penguins.
It can't be stressed enough how important points are now.
Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!