Opinion: The Penguins Need To Right The Ship - And It Starts With Their Leaders

The last week for the Pittsburgh Penguins has been one of the most brutal stretches for an NHL team in recent memory.

Against the Dallas Stars on Dec. 7, the Penguins surrendered a late 2-1 lead and ended up losing, 3-2, in the shootout. Against the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 9, the Penguins had a 2-1 lead on the power play with 10 seconds left - and the puck in their offensive zone at the time - and gave up a goal with 0.1 second left en route to another shootout loss.

Typically, when the Penguins have had a tough loss this season, they've found a way to respond and bounce back. When the Penguins lost to Anaheim the first time on Oct. 14 - courtesy of a late gaffe by Parker Wotherspoon on a delay of game penalty - they came back two days later and put together a nice 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. After an awful loss and 3-0 blown third-period lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 3, they defeated the Washington Capitals, 5-3. Even the Global Series split with the Nasvhille Predators went the same way. 

Even GM and POHO Kyle Dubas has lauded his team's ability to bounce back from bad losses this season. So, after that rough, literal last-second loss against the Ducks, the same kind of response should have been expected to some extent. 

But that's not what happened. Not even close. In fact, things got about as bad as they can possibly get. 

On Saturday, the Penguins held a 5-1 lead over the San Jose Sharks approaching the midway point of the third period, and the score was all of a sudden at 5-5 with a minute and a half still to play in regulation. They dropped the contest in overtime on a John Klingberg goal. 

Surely they'd respond Sunday against the Utah Mammoth. Right?

Well, they took a 3-0 into the third period, and within seven minutes and six seconds, they were trailing, 4-3. They did manage to tie the game with a Justin Brazeau goal, but they ultimately dropped the contest in overtime for the second straight game. 

Takeaways: Penguins Searching For Answers After Another Third-Period Collapse To Utah Mammoth The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered yet another third-period collapse against the Utah Mammoth on Sunday - and they can't seem to stop the bleeding

Instead of responding like they normally would following that heartbreaker against the Ducks, the Penguins went on to surrender 15 goals in their next three games, including nine of those in the third period and two in overtime. This also means that they only surrendered four goals in the first 40 minutes across those three contests.

The Penguins' inability to hold, apparently, any lead in the third period right now is certainly concerning, to say the least. And it's not something that was an issue in the first month of the season, when they were routinely shutting down the opposition when they were ahead in a hockey game. Now, the polar opposite is happening. 

So, where do they begin? How is it possible to address something like this, especially since it's happening so dramatically and drastically that it hardly seems real? Who is to blame? How can they change it? Can they change it?

There is certainly a lot of blame to go around right now, and no one is blameless. First-year head coach Dan Muse has made a few questionable deployment choices, but none of those have much to do with the team giving up three or four goals in a span of 7-11 minutes twice in consecutive games. GM and POHO Kyle Dubas and the rest of the staff in charge of personnel decisions could be giving a few more young guys - such as Tristan Broz and Avery Hayes - some NHL runway instead of players like Danton Heinen and Kevin Hayes, especially given the team's injuries to centers Evgeni Malkin and Blake Lizotte. 

Every coach, every player, and every person involved with whatever happened the last week is accountable to some extent. And, let's remember that the Penguins are still just one point out of a playoff spot despite this disastrous five-game losing streak, so reacting to extremes is probably a bit much. 

But it is a serious problem, and the Penguins need to address it now. Before the bleeding spreads out of control. It's worth noting that the Penguins are playing very well for large stretches of these games, and they have shown capability this season of being able to close out games. 

At the end of the day, sure, the coach is partially responsible, as is the GM. But it all comes down to the players and execution. And - specifically - it comes down to their veterans. 

It feels like the elephant in the room that no one wants to address, but the Penguins' longest-tenured and most respected veterans have not been doing much to help matters during this stretch. In fact, they've hurt the team on several occasions. 

Sidney Crosby's and Bryan Rust's defensive play is a glaring problem at the moment that is becoming hard to ignore. Crosby was on the ice for five goals against in the Sharks game, including the overtime game-winner that saw John Klingberg just walk right around him. A similar thing happened on Beckett Sennecke's tying goal for Anaheim at the end of regulation, as he walked right past Crosby and Kris Letang en route to the net front. Crosby was also on the ice for Utah's overtime goal. 

Then, there's Rust, who - according to HockeyStatCards - owns a team-worst defensive rating of minus-2.4. He has looked lost in his own zone at several points this season, and as good as he is on the penalty kill, he isn't offering much in the way defensively five-on-five.

Letang's defensive play has been a nightmare all season long, and it's becoming a big problem for the Penguins. Erik Karlsson has been outstanding for most of the season but has turned the puck over with more frequency in recent games. 

These are four veteran players who make up a good portion of the leadership group in the locker room. And they've been four of the worst offenders for the Penguins in this stretch of games, looking disjointed in pressure situations, disinterested in the defensive zone, and outright slow on fundamental things like line changes and coverage. 

If there is a central place to point the finger, this is it. The Penguins' core and veteran leadership group has simply not been good enough in these last five games. Yes, they're helping the Penguins on the scoresheet, and yes, they're contributing to the team's ability to have leads in the first place. 

But none of that matters if these players can't come through in the biggest, most high-stakes moments, which aren't always on the offensive side of the puck. Some of the defensive efforts on these goals against have been questionable at best and unacceptable at worst. And when a team's leadership group is doing this, it trickles down to the rest of the team. 

Maybe that's harsh, but it's the truth. And the thing is that these guys know this. They'll be the first to tell you that they need to be better. That they need to set that example. These players have enough talent and winning pedigree to know what it takes to win hockey games, and for whatever reason, there is a disconnect on the execution right now. 

And, maybe, that's some cause for optimism. Muse said in his presser on Sunday that the Penguins can't play cautious and need to remain aggressive with leads. Karlsson spoke after the game as well and explained that the blown third-periods aren't because of a lack of talent or ability or that it comes down to systems and schemes.

Instead, he said it's all a mindset - and, because of that, it's fixable.

“With the history that we've had here in the past couple weeks, you start overthinking stuff and you start worrying about the 'what ifs' instead of just playing the situation," Karlsson said. "If they beat you, they beat you. It's going to happen. We're playing against the best players in the world, and we've got to remember that we're part of that group and we're more than capable to play with anyone.

"It’s more a mindset right now. The good thing about that is it’s controllable. I don’t think it has anything to do with systems or X’s and O’s. It’s within ourselves. We’ve got to find a way to regain that trust individually and as a team.”

And finding those ways comes down to Karlsson. And Crosby. And Letang. And Rust. And all the other leaders in the locker room who set the example and the tone for everyone else in the room. If the Penguins want things to change, it starts with those guys. They need to be the ones to raise the bar and set the example. 

The Penguins have five more games before the holiday break, and they're certainly not out of things. This next week and a half will show everyone exactly what this team truly is - and what their veterans and best players are willing to do to change the narrative.

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