OTTAWA — When it rains, it pours.
“Well,” Kris Letang said in the quiet Pittsburgh Penguins dressing room late Tuesday, “I’d say it’s really pouring right now.”
The Penguins, for the second time this season, evened a game in Ottawa with their goaltender pulled. But just like in December, they fell in overtime, as Drake Batherson beat an otherwise stellar Tristan Jarry in a 2-1 Senators victory. And unlike in December, when some optimism remained, the Penguins look very much dead in the water.
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Remarkably, the Penguins remain only seven points out of a playoff spot despite going 1-6-1 in their past eight games. No one who has paid attention to their recent performances, however, believes this team has a realistic chance at qualifying for the postseason. The Penguins, though, from Mike Sullivan right through the dressing room, definitely speak about still believing in making the playoffs.
They don’t really play like a team that’s battling to make such a run. Even Sullivan acknowledged his team could have been more aggressive at the offensive net front in this contest.
“We have to do a better job fighting for that area,” Sullivan said.
This continued one of the most futile stretches in the Penguins’ history. They have scored only 11 goals in their past eight games despite employing multiple players who will someday be enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Perhaps an even more remarkable statistic is this: The Penguins have scored twice in their past 288 shot attempts, and that number would be even worse had Michael Bunting not evened the game in the final seconds of regulation.
The Penguins have 2 goals on their last 288 shot attempts pic.twitter.com/YG5HNM6pkf
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) March 13, 2024
In their past four games, the Penguins have scored twice.
“Especially when you consider the quality of players we have here, it’s something that shouldn’t happen,” Letang said. “We’re in the middle of it. We have to get out of it.”
All of the future Hall of Famers are in it, in fact. In the past eight games, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson and Letang have managed three goals, five assists and are a combined minus-31.
The Penguins have scored 11 goals in their past eight games.
In those games:
• Sidney Crosby, 0-2-2, minus-12
• Evgeni Malkin, 2-2-4, minus-5
• Erik Karlsson, 0-1-1, minus-4
• Kris Letang, 1-0-1, minus-10
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) March 13, 2024
Bunting’s goal prevented the Penguins from suffering a third shutout in four games.
The stars’ inability to perform was a storyline in this game, as it has been in recent weeks. It’s very well known that the Penguins don’t possess a significant number of players who are contributing to what could be considered depth scoring.
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As a result, their stars — they traded a very valuable one in Jake Guentzel last week — simply have to score. Right now, they are not.
Malkin entered this game having failed to register a shot on goal in three straight games.
Karlsson’s assist on Bunting’s goal was his first point in eight games, and even in overtime, when he had a breakaway to win the game against his former team, he failed to register a shot.
Letang has been in a horrendous funk for about a week now and nearly blew the game in overtime. He fanned on a pass from Crosby in front of the net and then fell, giving the Senators a breakaway.
(Letang said the puck jumped over his blade on the Crosby feed, and to be fair, the ice was awful in Ottawa.)
Then there is Crosby, who looks completely out of sorts in recent games.
Without the stars playing at a higher level, the Penguins are simply doomed.
Their role players simply don’t have enough juice to compensate for slumping stars.
“We just have to keep working,” Drew O’Connor said. “Tonight just wasn’t good enough.”
Ten postgame observations
• Crosby simply isn’t himself right now.
I’ve noticed on social media that many are accusing Crosby of being in a funk since Guentzel was traded or of not being all that interested in playing now that the Penguins are almost out of the playoff race.
I assure you Crosby cares and is trying as hard as he can. He doesn’t know any other way. But obviously, his performance is below par. We haven’t seen this from him since the beginning of the 2015-16 season, when he failed to register a point in his first five games and in eight of his first nine.
It’s fair to assume he will break out of this slump because he’s Crosby. This is one of the worst funks in his career. He’s now managed 64 points in 64 games this season, putting his streak of 18 straight seasons with a point per game or better in jeopardy. Only Wayne Gretzky (19 times) has done it more.
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I’m not sure which way I’d bet on this one. Crosby really, really isn’t himself.
• Along those lines, there is Malkin.
The effort is there with Malkin, but the legs most certainly are not. He’s never looked so slow, and he was not effective against the Senators.
In fact, a bad line change contributed to the game-winning goal. Crosby surprised Malkin by heading to the bench, and Malkin looked unprepared to jump on the ice. This gave Ottawa a three-on-two.
Sandy to Bath to Sandy to Tim to Bath to IN THE NET
Just like we drew it up ✍️ #GoSensGo https://t.co/iGXVja6PsA pic.twitter.com/1a94Ii0eal
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 13, 2024
Blame Crosby if you want. Blame Malkin for not being ready if you want. It was just … not good.
• Jarry was spectacular most of the night, especially in the third period. Give him credit. This game never should have gone to extra time, but Jarry gave the Penguins a fighting chance in the third period when the Senators completely took over for long stretches.
I actually didn’t think Jarry looked comfortable in the first period, but he certainly did as the game went on and stopped 37 of 39 shots.
Sullivan called his performance “terrific.” I’d agree.
• John Ludvig was a physical presence all night and dropped the gloves once again.
The old-school people love Ludvic. The analytics crowd thinks he’s worthless.
He certainly has some holes in his game, but I can see why the Penguins like him. There is something to be said for the physical dimension he brings to the table. He just needs time to play and develop. Maybe he will work out, maybe he won’t.
Personally, I think there is potential there.
• I chatted with Bryan Rust after Tuesday’s morning skate. I simply hold him in the highest regard.
Rust, unlike some of his teammates, plays hard every night, no matter the circumstances, no matter what the standings say. A number of teams were interested in him before the trade deadline, and you can certainly see why. If you’re entertaining a playoff series, he’s the kind of person you want in your dressing room and on the ice.
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Like so many of the Penguins, this season has impacted Rust directly.
“It’s been pretty weird,” he said. “But we aren’t eliminated yet. So we have to keep on playing, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
• Right on cue, it was Rust and Marcus Pettersson who endured a miscommunication on the first Ottawa goal.
These are two of the Penguins’ best defensive players.
Yeah … when it rains, it pours.
• I actually liked O’Connor’s game. He was fast. He was noticeable. He was engaged.
I still think there’s a good player there.
• Most of this game felt like a preseason game. Sullivan and the players said there was plenty of intensity and the effort level was good.
It just didn’t look or feel that way to me. I wouldn’t say the Penguins were going through the motions, but they weren’t running through walls, either.
• I was so horrified by the quality of play in the first period of this game that, during the intermission, I walked a lap around the press box level. It’s always troubled me that there are nothing but Gretzky artifacts in this building. I get it, he’s a Canadian legend and Ottawa is Canada’s capital. But I did a lap around the media level anyway and counted 12 Gretzky photos. None of Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux or Gordie Howe that I could find.
This is the most unnecessary observation I’ve ever made in this column over the years. But listen, you can write the same thing only so many times before you need to change things up. So if you ever wondered what I do during intermissions in Ottawa, well, now you know.
• Up next for the Penguins is a game against the San Jose Sharks. You might recall that, when these teams last played, the Penguins put up a 10-spot in San Jose during a perfect California road trip, one that seemed to give the Penguins a supreme amount of hope that perhaps they could turn things around following a rough first couple of weeks.
My how things have changed since then.
(Photo: Marc DesRosiers / USA Today)
