The officiating may have been suspect, but so was the Pittsburgh Penguins penalty kill.
For the second game in a row, the Pittsburgh Penguins went to overtime against one of the bottom feeding teams in the NHL.
This time around, however, the Penguins would fall short to the Atlantic Division’s Ottawa Senators.
While the injury bug is proving to have a massive impact and there was certainly some questions surrounding the officiating, the main culprit for this loss falls on the penalty kill.
The Senators had nearly 20 minutes of power play time and they took full advantage, scoring all four of their regulation time goals while a man up.
The official tally shows the Senators scoring four power play goals on nine opportunities; questionable officiating or not, that’s not good enough for the Penguins.
Had it not been for the Penguins spending so much time in the box, who knows how that game turns out? Possibly a much better return for the Penguins.
To make matters worse, this is turning into a trend, as the Penguins penalty kill struggled too keep above water against the Anaheim Ducks, as well.
The Penguins allowed a pair of power play goals to the Ducks on four chances.
“We battled hard, but we didn’t get it done,” Mike Sullivan said following the overtime loss. “We gave up four goals against. That’s not good enough.”
The penalty killing unit of the Penguins skyrocketed up the rankings when Teddy Blueger finally made his way into the lineup, but things have taken a turn.
Their percentage is slipping and something needs to give to stop the bleeding; is the answer a healthy goalie or defense core?
Honestly, it’s hard to say exactly, but something needs to be fixed to help the team win again.
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