PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – On a night where its one-time playoff hero was reportedly traded to a team within the division, those teammates left behind put together an uninspiring performance in a 6-0 loss to the Capitals.
With a win, the Pens could have jumped Washington into fifth place and a point behind the Islanders and eight behind the Flyers. The first goal of the game was short-handed, by of all people, Tom Wilson. The Pens would survive the rest of the first, but give up four goals in the second including a couple of uncontested rebounds.
Sidney Crosby called this season, ‘a new experience’. Asked if he still thought there would be an opportunity at a quick turnaround.
“I hope, that would be great,” Crosby said. “Obviously tonight is not going to be the kind of game that is going to do that.”
“We didn’t play like a team today,” said defenseman Marcus Pettersson. “We got it handed to us, two times in a short period of time (referring to 6-1 loss to Edmonton) so it’s a tough feeling in here.”
“There's nothing going on, no energy, no passion, nothing,” said defenseman Kris Letang. “As a group, we didn't show up.”
Head coach Mike Sullivan said they didn’t do a good enough job of the trade deadline noise around the team, specifically with the report of the Pens sending Jake Guentzel to Carolina.
“Jake means an awful lot to these guys,” Sullivan said. “When you win championships together there is a bond that is hard to put into words. These guys are human, as much as we preach to stay on task and focus. Obviously, I have to believe some of that had to have an impact of what went on the ice tonight.”
“It’s not an excuse, we still need to do our jobs. That’s our business. That’s what we sign up for. We got to be better moving forward.”
“We’ve got to do a better job as far as our mindset going into games and continuing to keep that mindset throughout the course of the 60 minutes.”
Standings
This is for the most optimistic of you hanging onto the not mathematically eliminated stance.
Rangers (62 games) 84 points
Hurricanes (62 games) 80 points
Flyers (64 games) 74 points
Islanders (61 games) 68 points
Capitals (61 games) 67 points
Devils (63 games) 66 points
PENS (61 games) 64 points
Up Next
Pens are at the Bruins Saturday at 3p. Boston has the second-most points in the East. Friday at 3p is the trade deadline, so the roster may look different.