Since his snub from Team Sweden's 4 Nations roster, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell has 12 goals and 22 points in 18 games.

The Pittsburgh Penguins had a critical five-game homestand and collected just three points thanks to a 1-3-1 record. They wrapped it up on Tuesday night by losing to the Seattle Kraken 4-2.

Although the Penguins remain in the thick of the Eastern Conference wildcard race, something has to give up, especially on the upcoming seven-game road trip.

Before the plane ride to Buffalo, let's discuss the latest setback.

Penguins' Serious Goalie Issues

According to Pittsburgh Sportsnet, the Penguins have given up the game's first goal 19 times. For those keeping score, that's 41.3% of their season. Moreover, they have 18 wins this season, meaning they have been scored on first in more games they have won.

Meanwhile, Tristan Jarry finished the night with just 14 saves and a .824 SV%, the 13th game this year that he's compiled a sub .900 SV% in 22 games. Additionally, on Tuesday, he surrendered three goals for the 15th time.

Even though the Penguins continue to deploy one of the NHL's better offenses, their goalies continue to give up costly goals, resulting in gut-wrenching losses.

Rough Night for the Captain

At one point, Sidney Crosby was the target of a rough cross-check and took a long time to return to the bench. Overall, it was an off night for the Penguins' captain, who led all skaters with a minus-3 rating and didn't register a single shot on net.

Tuesday night was only the third time this season that Crosby was minus-3, and it was the sixth time he didn't get any pucks on goal. Interestingly, the Penguins are now 0-3-0 in games when he's minus-3 and 2-4-0 when he doesn't get a shot on goal.

Legends have bad nights; it's part of the ups and downs of a long season. However, if Crosby isn't going, those performances always get magnified.

Are Changes on the Horizon?

The Penguins just completed a critical homestand and are now set to embark on a season-altering seven-game road trip that will be the defining moment of their season.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfa-UbBfPA[/embed]

With several key losses in the past five games, Pittsburgh is now four points back but only seven out of last place in the Eastern Conference. The only teams below them are all three New York teams: Rangers, Islanders, and Sabres.

Considering the number of team executives in attendance at PPG Paints Arena, there had to be some in-depth conversations about the state of the organization, especially with AHL staff and Jason Spezza and Amanda Kessel in town.

Something has to change at some point, or the Penguins could miss the playoffs for the third consecutive season, something unseen in Steel City since Crosby was a teenager in the QMJHL.

Penguins & Kraken Trivia Answers

How did you score in our Game Day Trivia quiz? Here are the answers.

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3 Takeaways From Penguins Brutal Loss To Kraken