PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Sunday the Pens played with the effort needed to try and remain in a playoff race. It was far better than what happened on Saturday, however what is exactly the same is yet another loss. Rangers score three in the third period to win 5-3 Sunday.
It was regulation loss number 27 (to a team also fighting for a playoff spot), worst in the Eastern Conference. It was overall loss 36, worst in the Eastern Conference. This hockey team is now 23-36 with a goal differential of -44.
“We got to continue to dig in,” said Pens head coach Mike Sullivan. “I said to them after the game, if we put that game on the ice on most nights we are going to win some games, and I believe that. We carried territory, zone time, chances, opportunities. You can’t always control whether the puck goes in the net or not, what you can control is the process to give yourself opportunities to create chances.”
Pens outshot the Rangers 33-16, but four of those New York shots (the fifth was an empty-netter) went in against rookie Joel Blomqvist. That is seven goals in 32 shots this weekend. That is a .781 save percentage.
“Tough day,” Blomqvist said. “I thought our team played really well. It’s a tough loss.”
“I think we are capable of better,” Sullivan said. “I don’t know if it’s a case where we are coming off the break and we need to get some game action. I know that both Ned and Joel are capable of better.”
Sullivan is in a tough spot with wanting to give the 23-year-old Blomqvist more opportunities at the NHL level. However, there is the reality of the results. He’s given up 20 goals in his last 108 shots. Alex Nedeljkovic has mostly been a back-up in his career, but the 29-year-old has been more consistent and had a shutout on February 1.
“Joel is a young goaltender,” Sullivan said. “He’s very athletic. We are very excited about this guy, but he’s a young goaltender and he’s going through a growing process here. The challenge is on us as a coaching staff to help him.”
Forward Rickard Rakell said heading into Saturday that the playoffs already for the Pens. They needed to win about 75% of their final 25 games to have a chance. Not only do they start 0-2, but gave up 13 goals.
“Obviously we lose two in a row coming out of the break, that wasn’t the plan,” said veteran Kevin Hayes. “A lot different game than (Saturday). (Saturday) wasn’t what we wanted to put on the ice and I thought (Sunday) we played a really good game. I thought we were the better team the whole night. Unfortunately, that’s not how hockey works sometimes.”
“We understand where we are at,” Sullivan said. “We know every game is important. Every two points are important. We are going to stay in the moment and keep fighting. We are going to fight until the very end. We are going to do everything we can to stay in the race.”
“We fought hard tonight. We didn’t get the result. We got to figure out where we go from here. It’s not doom and gloom. I think the group understands that type of attitude doesn’t get us anywhere. We are going to have to dig in here. We will keep fighting.”
Defenseman Ryan Shea was a healthy scratch on Saturday and Sunday had his first goal of the season and first NHL two-goal night. Evgeni Malkin scored the other, his 10th of the season.
Pens will play at Philadelphia on Tuesday night before the Flyers play here on Thursday at 7:30p.