The Pittsburgh Penguins were feeling pretty good about themselves during their recent six-game win streak.
But, since then, they're come back down to earth a little bit. And, on Tuesday, they surrendered a pretty big point to a team chasing them in the standings.
The Penguins dropped yet another game beyond regulation, losing to the New York Islanders, 5-4, and closing the gap between them and the Isles in the standings down to one point. It was their second-straight loss and, even if the Penguins should walk away feeling pretty good about how they played, every point at this junture is a precious one.
The Penguins kicked off the scoring when Justin Brazeau carried the puck deep into the offensive zone and fed a one-handed pass from below the goal line to Anthony Mantha, who finished the play in the low slot area for his 20th of the season.
The Penguins controlled the majority of the first 20 minutes, but with a minute and 20 seconds remaining, Bo Horvat tied the score, and with just 3.2 seconds left on the clock, rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer put the Isles ahead, 2-1, with a blast from the point.
The Penguins responded in the second period, though, by - once again - controlling play for the majority of it. A little less than four minutes in, from behind the net, Tommy Novak fed Egor Chinakhov in the left circle, and he snapped it home for his eighth goal as a Penguin - the most scored by a Penguins' player during his time in Pittsburgh - to even the score.
Then, later in the period, Bryan Rust put together a hard-working shift in the offensive zone. He had the puck down low, and - from below the goal line on the right side - banked the puck off Isles' goaltender Ilya Sorokin and into the net to put the Penguins on top, 3-2.
But approaching the midway point of the third, Mat Barzal shot the puck from the high-slot area, and Penguins' defenseman Ilya Solovyov - in the low-slot area all alone - screened his goaltender, Stuart Skinner, so he never saw the puck as it went behind him. The Isles tied it, 3-3, despite the Penguins - again - heavily controlling play and playing pretty well defensively.
They did respond two minutes later, though, when Brett Kulak executed a shot-pass from the left point right on the tape of Brazeau, who was waiting in the low slot, to return the lead to the Penguins. Unfortunately, the Islanders capitalized on their only other scoring chance later in the third period, as Ryan Pulock shot one from distance that beat Skinner to tie the game back up at 4-4 and force overtime.
And even though the Penguins mostly controlled possession in overtime, it didn't take long for the Isles to close it out. Evgeni Malkin, Novak, and Kulak were pressuring in the offensive zone, and Kulak pinched deep to take a one-time feed that he ended up shanking a bit. The puck went right to the Isles, and Barzal was able to feed the puck to Horvat, who was off to the races and buried his breakaway opportunity to give the Islanders the two points.
Here are some thoughts and observations from this one:
- If you've been watching the Penguins play the Islanders for a lot of years, you'd know that this game was pretty was the definition of a typical matchup between the two teams.
The Penguins were very clearly the better team throughout this game. They controlled the high-danger chances, the possession, the shot attempts, the actual shots (35 to the Isles' 23), and the pace in a general sense.
But, as usual, the Islanders didn't miss on the few opportunities they had, and they walked away with the two points despite being thoroughly outplayed.
It's truly amazing that this seems to happen in so many of the games between these two teams. The Penguins have up zero high-danger scoring chances in the third period, and just two scoring chances, and they gave up two goals.
Somehow, this Islanders' team has a knack for making opportunistic offense a defining aspect of their game. They don't miss when they get the chances. And, despite playing a good hockey game, the Penguins were burned because of that.
- The other thing that burned them and usually does? Goaltending.
Skinner has been very good since joining the Penguins. That has not been the case in the last two games. He's given up 10 goals in those two games, and he's looked uncomfortable in the crease. Pulock's goal is one he needs to have, and even though breakaways are 50-50 and not really an indictment of the goaltender, he looked uncomfortable on the OT winner, too.
The Penguins have one more game before the Olympic break, which is in Buffalo on Thursday. I'm very curious to see who gets the nod in goal between him and Silovs, especially since Silovs will be playing in the Olympics for Team Latvia.
- This was certainly not related to the result, but as mentioned before, Chinakhov has more goals than any Penguins' player since he's joined the team. And it's not like these goals are fluky, either. His shot is simply insane, and he oftentimes uses his speed to beat opponents to pucks.
Sounds like a match made in heaven for overtime, right?
Well, not so far. Chinakhov should be taking the ice with either Malkin or Novak in the extra frame, but for whatever reason, he's not really being utilized. I understand that Malkin isn't taking faceoffs, but when you're changing on-the-fly in OT, that doesn't matter much.
If the Penguins get to another overtime - and, yes, it's bound to happen - Chinakhov needs to be on the ice, and early. His speed and finishing ability are, pretty much, two of the three pillars of an ideal three-on-three overtime player, with the other pillar being a puck possession demon. He does that pretty well, too.
- I thought Ben Kindel was spectacular again on Tuesday, honing all of the details and driving play for his line. I'll keep it short because I say it all the time, but it's amazing how mature this kid's game is. And it's only going to continue getting better.
- What a season Mantha is having. He's got a 20-goal season - and is on pace for a 30-goal campaign - the season after ACL reconstruction surgery at 30 years old. He's quickly gone from being a possible trade chip/flip candidate to a crucial part of this lineup, and all credit goes to him for the statement he's making.
If the Penguins are in the playoff picture at the trade deadline, this guy isn't going anywhere.
- There was a play earlier on in the game where Sidney Crosby took a spear to the midsection off a faceoff - intentional or not - with no penalty attached. Crosby briefly went down the runway but returned.
I'm not really sure why there was no penalty on that play. To me, it was a pretty clear-cut thing.
By the way, Crosby still looks off his game. That line was better with Rust back in the fold after serving his three-game suspension, but 87 isn't himself right now.
- Securing this point was a big deal for the Penguins, who remain one point ahead of the Islanders with two games in hand. They'll still have two games in hand during the Olympic break, as both teams have one more game.
In terms of "must-win" territory, the Penguins aren't quite there yet. But it would probably be in their best interest to bank a win against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday and go into the break on a high note instead of on the heels of a three-game losing streak.
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