Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
TAMPA, Fla. — After the sailboats and trawlers filled the water on a sunny day in western Florida, it was too fitting that the Pittsburgh Penguins took the bait.
The Tampa Bay Lightning offered the Penguins a wide-open track meet complete with trading scoring chances, and it proved to be an offer the Penguins couldn’t refuse but most certainly should have. Tampa Bay converted on the rush after the Penguins’ turnovers or mistakes. Ultimately, the Penguins were bailing water before they eventually sank in a 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay at Benchmark International Arena.
The Xs and Os battle devolved into a skills competition in which the Penguins were too happy to take part, but also obviously ill-equipped.
The Penguins led 2-1 after the first period, but it felt like a losing battle. Just 11 seconds into the second period, the Penguins gave away the lead on a shorthanded goal, and the fallout was that the Penguins fell further and further behind both in momentum and score.
Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson had what was probably the most brutally honest and accurate description.
“I just think that they outworked us and outsmarted us right from the start. I mean, we were up 2-1 in the first, but they were the better team,” Karlsson began. “And then obviously the second, I don’t know if we even played the game, or if they were just really, really that much better than us. And then obviously in the third, we had a little bit of a push, but not enough to sustain anything to come back and. It’s one of those nights where we just didn’t come ready to play.”
Ouch.
Not only did Karlsson level the Penguins’ effort, but the power play has been as effective for the other team as it has been for them. Overall, the team has yielded the second most shorties in the league (12), but they have also coughed up five since March 1.
Anthony Cirelli’s shorthanded breakaway goal Thursday was the difference. Perhaps the Penguins could have steadied themselves or found another break, but after the shorthanded goal, Tampa Bay elevated their game. And it was the end for the Penguins.
The Penguins launched themselves to a big win Monday when Rickard Rakell scored a shorthanded goal, but it is the Penguins who have yielded far too many goal lights with the other team in the penalty box. It was a bad bounce against the Penguins as the puck hopped over Bryan Rust’s stick, but one bad bounce cannot lead to a breakaway.
“It’s been too much, and so we’ve got to continue to look at it, and progress. I mean, they’re all different,” Muse said. “The one (tonight), there’s a little bit of a bounce there, and so you can still react to it. I thought there were actually other ones where they’re getting space coming out, and we’re not getting above and, yeah, we can’t be…”
Egor Chinakhov had a pair of goals Thursday, getting to 20 for the season, but the Penguins’ top line with Chinakhov and Rust side saddling Crosby was not a strength. The second of Chinakhov’s goals was scored with just 1.5 seconds remaining in the game.
After an acceptable start that was sloppy but somewhat effective, the Penguins continually slipped. Their scoring chance rates from NaturalStatTrick.com tell an abysmal tale. They were outchanced 9-6 in the first period, 15-9 in the second, and with the game on the line in the third, they were outchanced 7-1.
For the first time in a long time, there was a hint of being rattled in the Penguins’ room. Goalie Stuart Skinner was at a loss for words. Even Muse struck a tone of something close to admiration for Tampa Bay.
“They’ll do that to you,” Muse said. “I mean, I think that’s something where we’ve got to turn the page quickly. There’s not going to be any easy games. Every game, every day is going to have a new challenge, and none of them are going to be easy this time of year … based on this game, there are some lessons we absolutely have to take away and move forward with. You know, they made it difficult. And I do think we got away from things that have worked at times.”
“I don’t know,” muttered Chinakhov with an exasperated head shake.
In the first 18 minutes of the third period, the Penguins had just three shots on goal. It was emblematic of the dam breaking.
“They had a hard step on us at the very beginning, we were able to kind of manage that and then get some momentum ourselves,” Stuart Skinner said. “Second period, I thought momentum kind of shifted to their side, just getting a couple of goals, and then it kind of just stayed there. And then third period was not even … I don’t know. I don’t even know.”
Penguins Analysis
Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s original analysis that Tampa Bay pulled the Penguins out of their structure is accurate, but not the entire story. Tampa Bay pressured the Penguins, who in response tried to outscore Tampa Bay rather than buttoning up.
The strategy to trade punches, or absorb many more, worked for them when the teams played in Tampa in December. But that highly improbable win was also the beginning of the Penguins’ December swoon.
“They’ve been doing (the same thing) for a long time. They’re right on top of you, and they do a really good job with it, and they make it difficult. And that’s not a surprise, because you’ve seen it before, and they’re pretty clear what their plan is,” said Muse. “But I think we didn’t do the things that we needed to do to get out of it, to spend more time in the offensive zone. Just in general, you’ve still got to battle all the time, you know?”
Tactically, Tampa Bay ferociously attacks, and they don’t waste puck possession. It’s quite impressive how they took every gained puck in the neutral zone and defensive zone and turned it into a transition rush–very often three wide, and very often a controlled zone entry along the right wall, attacking the left side of the Penguins defense.
Every slight over-commit by the Penguins meant Tampa Bay had numbers on the rush, and the Penguins needed to scurry back. The Penguins did not track back as much as they scrambled back, and Tampa Bay could control the offensive zone.
Also on the chalkboard, the game was notable for what the Penguins failed to do. In the effort to play fast and keep up, they failed to grind along the walls. There were very few cycles, even by the fourth line.
The Penguins chose to match their uptempo game, or try to, and it was like trying to trade punches with Connor McGregor.
A few fourth-line cycles, or a few more by the Penguins’ top line, would have brought the game to a more advantageous speed and level.
“I think the big part of that is when you’re playing a team like that, there’s going to be momentum swings, they’re going to get some chances,” said Muse. “I just didn’t think we did it—You know, something we can improve on is just being able to kind of stop that them from being able to stack as many shifts as they did.”
Penguins Report Card
Team: D
They made bad choices with the puck, with their style, and defensively. Simply, they got beaten, but they played too big a role in their own demise.
Stuart Skinner: B-
There were a couple of goals that Skinner might like to review, but only Nikita Kucherov’s turning wrister from the corner was soft. He could have made an extra save or two.
Egor Chinakhov-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust: Ouch
Let’s cut to the chase. Neither Rust nor Crosby had anything resembling a good game, especially by their standards. Neither look comfortable and it is a fair question how injured both are. Crosby attempted no shots, and both he and Rust were minus-2.
Sam Girard: A
The Penguins defenseman had his best game with the Penguins. Especially in the first period, he was one of the team’s best. He created a pair of goals with a drive in the offensive one and a good intercept at center.
Soderblom-Dewar-Acciari: D
The Penguins badly needed them to work the puck to the low zone and grind away. They never really got it, as the fourth line didn’t win those battles.
Categorized:Penguins Analysis
