The Pittsburgh Penguins have a quick turn around after suffering their first regulation loss of the season.
The Pittsburgh Penguins surrendered their first regulation loss of the 2022-23 season and it was an ugly defeat.
Sixes have been wild for the Penguins to start the year as they eat a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
What made the game so ugly was once again the lack of playing a full 60-monute game.
The Penguins started off pretty well, reaching a 3-1 lead two minutes into the middle frame; that’s just about when the wheels fell off.
The Oilers took over the show putting up five unanswered goals on a game total of 47 shots.
“We’ve just got to put a full game together,” Sidney Crosby said. “We had a better start, but then we didn’t follow it up.”
Crosby and his linemate Rickard Rakell were focal points behind the Penguins early jump; Rakell scored the Pens opening goal to knot the game at one, then set up Crosby for a 2-1 lead.
Bryan Rust potted his third of the season for the Penguins third goal of the game but that’s when they decided to pack it in.
The back 38 minutes were all Oilers and Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry did everything he could.
It was a disappointing loss, but the Penguins locker room needs to have a short memory and turn their focus to the Calgary Flames.
The Penguins go from Edmonton to Calgary in back-to-back nights, playing two of the Western Conference’s strongest teams in as many nights.
Learn from the mistakes made in Edmonton and find the necessary improvements for Calgary.
It’s safe to assume the Penguins will be starting Casey DeSmith in net and one of the things that needs to be learned from is having a stronger blue line.
Both Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin were two of the Penguins weakest blue liners and they have to be better on the first defensive unit.
The Penguins can’t expect to collect wins if they’re giving up 47 shots every night.
With a record of 4-1-1, the Penguins are still off to one of the best starts in the NHL, but they can’t dwell on their first regulation loss and have to look forward to the next challenge.
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