Takeaways: Special Teams Sink Penguins In 5-2 Loss To Ducks

After putting an end to a four-game losing streak Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings, the Pittsburgh Penguins looked to build on that Sunday when they faced off against the offensive powerhouse Anaheim Ducks in the second leg of a back-to-back. 

Unfortunately, the Ducks' offense - in particular, their power play - was too much to handle.

For the eighth consecutive game, the Ducks scored five or more goals, and they beat the Penguins, 5-2, despite a heavy push by Pittsburgh in the third period. Anaheim's Cutter Gauthier recorded a hat trick, and their power play scored three times to bury a Penguins' penalty kill that started the year off strong. 

Pittsburgh put together a commendable effort in the third period behind two power play goals with netminder Arturs Silovs pulled, but what ultimately sunk them was a power play opportunity much earlier in the game. 

Ex-Penguin Mikhail Granlund opened the scoring in the first period with a power play goal from the low slot just as time was about to expire on the PP to make it 1-0 despite Pittsburgh getting its fair share of chances. But, in the opening minute of the second period, the Penguins had a golden oppportunity to seize control of the game. 

Ducks' center Leo Carlsson took a hooking penalty only 20 seconds into the period, then another 23 seconds later, Alex Killorn high-sticked Tommy Novak - who drew blood - in the mouth, getting pinned with a double-minor, giving the Penguins a five-on-three power play opportunity for a minute and 37 seconds, and gifting them almost four minutes of uninterrupted power play time. 

And, well, the Penguins could not convert. In fact, they barely got any good looks against a league-worst Ducks penalty kill, and it sucked any momentum they had going right from under them. Almost immediately after time had expired on the extended power play, Nick Robertson was called for holding, and Gauthier scored on the ensuing man advantage to give Anaheim the 2-0 advantage. 

Less than three minutes later, Gauthier scored again as the result of another blown defensive zone assignment by the Penguins. And Tristan Luneau scored yet another power play goal a little more than five minutes into the third to make it 4-0.

The Penguins appeared all but defeated at that point, but to their credit, they fought back hard. They were awarded another power play opportunity six and a half minutes into the final frame, and they decided to pull Silovs during that man advantage.

Throughout that man advantage, the Penguins showed some inspiring but rare desperation, generating chance after chance and putting every bit of energy they had into it. It finally paid off when Kris Letang beat Ducks' goaltender Laurent Brossoit from the point to cut the lead to 4-1.

Five minutes later, the same situation occurred: Tim Washe was called for an interference penalty when he took out Evgeni Malkin, and the Penguins pulled the goaltender again. For the second time in a row, the desperation paid off, as Rickard Rakell finished one-point blank at the net front to make it 4-2.

The Penguins had almost all of the momentum the rest of the way, and they pulled Silovs late again. But, this time, Gauthier was able to corral the puck and send it all the way down for an empty-net goal, sealing the hat trick for him and sending Anaheim home with the 4-2 win. 

Here are a few takeaways from another disappointing loss:

- The Penguins actually played relatively well five-on-five in this one. There were stretches where they were carrying play and, in the third, stretches where they dominated play. 

But their power play is a legitimate problem. 

Yes, when looking on the scoresheet, the Penguins produced two goals with the man advantage. But, like the game against the Boston Bruins on Thursday, a prolonged five-on-three netted them nothing and actually gave momentum to the opposition. 

Not scoring on a five-on-three a minute and a half long twice within a week cannot happen, and that was especially the case this time around because of the extended power play around it. The game was 1-0 at the time, and if they score here, it very well might be a completely different outcome. 

And this was against a bottom-10 penalty kill unit, too. 

- Sticking with special teams, the penalty kill didn't do the Penguins any favors, either, even if they were facing the league's best power play.

Anaheim's PP is clicking at a whopping 38.5 percent to begin the season. So, giving up one, even two, might be a bit understandable given the firepower. But three power play goals? A team isn't going to win too many games if they give up that much in one contest.

After starting the year strong, the PK has plummeted to 17th in the NHL at 76.6 percent. Special teams helped carry the Penguins to the playoffs last season, as they had a top-10 unit on both sides of it, and, for most of the season, top-five units on both sides. 

It has been their downfall early on as much as team defense has.

- Not to keep harping on the power play, but this isn't just a structural issue. Yes, the power play is far too stagnant, players aren't moving their feet enough, guys aren't at the net front enough, and they don't shoot enough. This is the case during five-on-three, especially.

Again, even though there are bigger issues, I do think personnel is a big one. 

There is not a reason in the world that could convince me Egor Chinakhov should not be on the ice for five-on-three power plays. Yes, he only has three goals on the season, but two of them are power play goals - tying him for the team lead in that department - and the situation calls for his shot. 

He has one of the best shots in the league, wrister or one-timer. Sure, he misses the net, like a whole lot of other Penguins are guilty of, too, including Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell - both of whom are out there in these situations. But, in a situation where you outman the opposition by two and you have the ability to tee up shots, why not have the guy with, by far, the best shot on your team out there?

And Nick Robertson's deployment continues to baffle me, both at five-on-five and on special teams. He's been good on the penalty kill for the most part. But he co-leads the team in goals and is stuck playing on the fourth line and is not on either power play unit.

He has a gift of a shot, too, and he uses it. Often. Make it make sense.

- The Penguins play the struggling San Jose Sharks Wednesday. After that, they have eight games left in the month of November. They're 6-10-2 as it stands now, they're in the basement of the Eastern Conference, but they're just six points out of the final playoff spot in the East. 

If they have any chance at salvaging their season, they need to get at least 12-13 points in these next nine games. That amounts to, at minimum, 6-2-1, 6-3, 5-2-2, or 4-1-4.

The list of current playoff-positioned teams within that time include the Ottawa Senators, Nashville Predators, and Dallas Stars.

In other words, they need to win pretty much all of the games that they should have a decent chance at winning. Even then, they'll be right around NHL .500.

This is the hole they've dug themselves. If they don't have a standout couple of weeks, expect some trade rumors and activity to pick up quite substantially entering the month of December.

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