Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/5e19dc1a-73c4-4ec4-bd9d-acce52988958.jpeg] The Pittsburgh Penguins just keep digging the hole deeper and deeper. And, following Saturday's regulation loss, it may be time to declare them six feet under. The Penguins fell to the Boston Bruins, 3-2, in a game that started way too late for the team in black and gold. Boston - as has become a pattern with Penguins' opponents lately - scored an early goal on their first shot, which was a breakaway by David Pastrnak. Mason Lohrei added a power play goal for Boston a few minutes later, and the Penguins seemed pretty lifeless. They had several opportunities to come back throughout the game - as they had seven power play opportunities overall - and failed to convert on their first five. The Penguins did, however, get some momentum in the third period. They had 15 shots on goal, and two of them found the back of the net. Anthony Beauvillier pulled the Penguins to within one via a shorthanded goal with just under six minutes remaining to make it 2-1. Then - with a minute and 43 seconds left in the game - Rickard Rakell was high-sticked in the face, and with blood drawn, the Penguins were rewarded a double-minor power play. Rakell did convert with 21.4 seconds left in regulation - but not before Charlie Coyle scored a shorthanded empty-net goal for Boston to put them back ahead by two goals. Ultimately, it was too little, too late from the Penguins, who were doomed by their one-for-seven power play and yet another slow start - as well as another first shot goal. "With smarter play - more purposeful play - we don't give up those types of opportunities," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "I think the common theme is we need more purposeful play so we're harder to play against." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some thoughts and observations on Saturday’s game: - For the 13th time this season - and the third game in a row - the Penguins gave up a goal on the first shot of the game. Alex Nedeljkovic can hardly be blamed for this one, as David Pastrnak was left all alone while Erik Karlsson and Matt Grzelcyk both got caught in the neutral zone. Pastrnak is going to score most of the time on those, and he deked out Nedeljkovic for his 32nd goal of the season. In any case, however, this is a truly incredible stat, and the Penguins are getting close to history. According to Rob Rossi of The Athletic, their 13 is already tied for the second-most in recorded NHL history with the 2017-18 Edmonton Oilers. The only team with more is the 2012-13 Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins need to stop the bleeding with this stat. It's remarkable. - Beauvillier has been a very serviceable and versatile player for the Penguins this season. His 12 five-on-five goals are tied with Sidney Crosby for third on the team, and he has been deployed up and down the lineup as well as on special teams. Recently, he has been getting more penalty-killing minutes, and he has played the part pretty well. "I think Beau's played really well for us," Sullivan said. "He plays hard, he competes, he plays any role we ask him to. He doesn't get very much power play time, if at all, but he scores. He scores goals." I'll get to Beauvillier more in a minute. But he has been a good player for the Penguins. - Rakell and Bryan Rust have both gone a bit cold. Rakell has just three goals in his last 15 games, and his power-play goal Saturday was his first in six. Rust has just one goal and five points in his last 10 games. Meanwhile, Crosby has six goals and 12 points in his last 12. Simply put, Crosby is doing too much himself right now. Both Rust and Rakell were sick coming out of the 4 Nations Face-off break, so they may well still be working out of that. But - considering Crosby may not even be playing 100 percent healthy - they need to step up a bit more. - P.O Joseph laid a borderline hit on Brad Marchand in the left corner during the first period. Marchand was very slow to get up - it took several minutes - and he needed help going to the locker room. Just a few minutes later, Bruins forward Mark Kastelic hit P.O Joseph in the same area of the ice, seemingly for retribution. Joseph did not return and was ruled out with an upper-body injury. Personally, I didn’t think there was any malice with Joseph’s hit, but I understand the response. The game had bits of nastiness dispersed throughout for the remainder of the afternoon. - The Penguins’ power play is in quite a funk right now. They are overcomplicating. Not moving much. Over-passing. There’s just a lot going on with the unit now that wasn’t happening before, and a lot of it has to do with a lack of simplicity. I don’t know why Matt Grzelcyk was ever taken off the first unit. And I’m not sure Kevin Hayes is an answer right now there either. If I’m the Penguins, I use Grzelcyk and Karlsson on the first unit. Tomasino wouldn’t be a bad option, either, instead of Karlsson. They need to tweak personnel a bit. "We're just, kind of, hesitating a little but and holding onto pucks," Grzelcyk said. "I think we got into a good groove there for a while just because we were moving pucks quick no matter if it was obvious whether the guy was open or whatever. It just kinda throws the PK off. And it seems like we're just kind of dragging it a little bit, and i's just easy for the penalty kill to set up in the structure they want. So, we've got to move pucks quick and also attack more downhill. I think we're playing in the high ice a little too much." - Speaking of Karlsson, this was one of his worst showings of the season. He was credited with six giveaways. His passes and shots were getting blocked and obstructed all night, and he was on the ice for both Pastrnak breakaway attempts. There was too much hesitancy and overthinking and not enough simplicity. Sometimes, Karlsson’s play from one game to the next is confounding. He played one of his best of the season on Thursday and one the worst on Saturday. That’s the experience with him. But I didn’t like his game at all Saturday. - The Penguins are running out of time to salvage the season. Heading into this game, MoneyPuck had them at 0.3 percent chance of making the playoffs, which was the third-worst percentage in the league and ahead of only the Seattle Kraken and Nashville Predators. With this regulation loss, they are now 24-28-9 with 57 points on the season. Their points percentage of .467 is sixth-worst in the NHL - and second-worst in the Eastern Conference - and they have played four more games than the Buffalo Sabres, who sit just four points behind them. The NHL trade deadline is Friday, Mar. 7. Less than a week from today. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/7766e6bd-13b9-43e0-a640-f0c229a7f943.jpeg] There will be movement. The Penguins are going to be hard sellers for the first time in a very, very long time. Guys like Grzelcyk and Beauvillier will almost certainly be heading out the door. I still think guys like Rakell and Karlsson aren't going anywhere until the summer. But I've been wrong before. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwquDfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
