PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was just a week ago that the Pens were coming off a win to start the second half of the season. Optimism was there about a team that played a low-risk game. Three losses later, frustration is the emotion after a 5-2 home loss to Florida.
“We have to realize the position that we are in,” said defenseman Kris Letang. “How can I say it ‘stand still’, ‘deer in the headlights’.”
“We have to go get it. We will need everybody. We will need emotion, every single game. It doesn’t matter who we are facing, every single point matters.”
Pens took a 1-0 lead early in the second period Wednesday night, only to have that goal overturned by replay as slo-mo confirmed a high stick on the puck right before the score. Pens would get a power play, get a few good chances but denied by Sergei Bobrovsky. As the puck headed to neutral ice, former Penguin Evan Rodrigues came out of the box and Matthew Thachuk buried a nice pass from him to make it 1-0 Florida. Ten minutes later it was 4-0 Florida and a third consecutive loss.
“We have to manufacture our own emotion,” Letang said. “It was a pretty flat game out of the gate. Sometimes when it’s flat, we can’t fall asleep, we have to manufacture our own emotion, our own juice and get to our game one way or another. I think it was pretty flatlined tonight.”
Head coach Mike Sullivan said he’s made changes, several of them with his seventh-place team. Many we may not have noticed. And yes, the team kept fighting, that’s admirable. But they do keep score, and the Pens have been on the wrong end of the score more times than not this season.
“It has to be our way to play, coming at our opponent,” Letang said. “Using our forecheck, our speed game, going to the net. Make it hard on their goalie, stuff like that usually manufactures hits, emotion. When a game starts like that and it’s dead, we have to manufacture that on our own.”
It’s the first of back-to-back games for the Pens playing at Chicago on Thursday before returning home on Sunday against the Kings followed by home games against the Islanders, Montreal and Philly before a four-game western road trip against the Pacific-leading Canucks, red-hot Oilers, Flames and Kraken. Those last two games are in March. Games are dwindling and this team is backsliding.
Guentzel hurt
Crushed behind the net with a crosscheck to the ribs by Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola in the third, Jake Guentzel left the game midway through the third and suffered an upper-body injury. Sullivan had no update to his status after the game.
68 forever
The Pens will retire the number 68 of Jaromir Jagr against the Kings at 6p on Sunday. The fourth leading goal scorer in NHL history, Jagr last played for the Pens in 2000-01 winning a pair of Stanley Cup championships.