The Pittsburgh Penguins laid another egg in their 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Rock Bottom seems to be a place the Pittsburgh Penguins have become all too familiar with in recent years. Fans thought the Penguins hit rock bottom following a 7-2 loss on home ice to the Edmonton Oilers last season, which the Penguins looked like a declining and aging team.

However, the Penguins clawed their way back, giving themselves control of their playoff destiny. That's when they hit rock bottom, losing to the tanking Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 and closing the door on their playoff hopes.

That loss resulted in a massive restructuring of the Penguins organization. Ron Hextall and Brian Burke were relieved of their duties, and the Kyle Dubas era began. Dubas breathed fresh life into the Penguins organization, including massive turnover to the NHL and AHL rosters.

With Dubas 25 games into his first season, the Penguins are again plummeting toward rock bottom. When speaking with Josh Getzoff of Sportsnet Pittsburgh earlier this week, Dubas put his team to task, hoping they would clean up their performance from two lackluster showings against Philadelphia.

The Penguins failed to respond on Wednesday night in Tampa Bay, dropping their third straight contest and falling to seventh place in the Metropolitan division. The Penguins lacked energy from the drop of the puck and didn't have much juice throughout the night.

Recurring issues like the power play and contributions from their depth continued to hamper the Penguins, but even their more reliable performers struggled. Tristan Jarry saved 24 of 27 shots but was helped by several shots off the post/crossbar and an overturned goal on an offsides call.

Their top ranked penalty kill allowed two goals and have now given up goals in three of the last four games.

Offensively, the Penguins never put Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy under duress. Their only goal came when Vasilevskiy turned the puck over behind the net, and Jake Guentzel banked a shot off two Lightning defenders before it caromed into the net.

Dubas highlighted the Penguins' two games in Florida as an indicator of where the team is. Based on their performance Wednesday night, they are in a world of trouble and could be nearing rock bottom once again.

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