The Pittsburgh Penguins had a good lead, but threw it away bringing a tough overtime loss.
It’s never easy going on a losing streak; it’s even harder when you squander a lead like the Pittsburgh Penguins just had.
With a three goal lead about midway through the game, the Penguins failed to pick up a victory as the Boston Bruins came roaring back for an overtime win.
While everyone in the Penguins locker room was displeased with the outcome of the contest, head coach Mike Sullivan said that the team beat themselves.
“At the end of the day we got to find a way to win games,” Sullivan said. “When you two goal lead… you’re in a good position to win. We had opportunities to win and we didn’t take advantage.”
The Penguins were faced with plenty of opportunities to close the game with a victory, but they couldn’t complete any of them.
When the Bruins took multiple penalties in regulation and another in overtime, yet the Penguins power play failed to convert all night.
The biggest chance came in overtime when the Penguins went a man up, but only recorded a single shot on goal.
“We’re learning the hard way right now,” Sullivan said. “If we’re going to be the team we want to become we can’t beat ourselves. And the easiest way to beat yourself is to not take care of the puck.”
The Penguins turned the puck over eight times in the game, doubling the Bruins total of only four.
A lot of the blame was thrown on Evgeni Malkin for being careless and that’s fair given he had a pair of the Penguins takeaways.
Coach Sullivan is right, the Penguins can’t beat themselves and need to find ways to win.
The Penguins hope to return to their winning ways on the road in Buffalo in the second of of another back-to-back situation.
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