PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – By late in the second period, fans were chanting ‘Fire Hextall’. The boos grew louder and louder as Edmonton, also fighting for a playoff spot, buried the Pens Thursday night 7-2.
“I’ve heard boos before,” said Pens captain Sidney Crosby. “It’s not something that’s happened very often. You definitely don’t want to hear that. It was a tough night for everybody. We don’t like putting on a performance like that in front of them.”
“It’s tough to explain right now, there is a lot of emotion,” said Pens defenseman Kris Letang. “It’s tough to find the right answer. It’s just not good enough. We are in the middle of it. We have to bring more emotion. We have to find a way whatever it is, find a way to win.”
Winning only one time in their last six and four in a row, the Pens have also given up 27 goals in those five losses. Add in Detroit’s win Thursday and the Pens are now 10th in the Eastern Conference.
“It starts with the main guys-me, Sid and Geno,” Letang said. “We have to step up our game. We have to find a way to win. It doesn’t matter if it’s pretty or not, we have to grind it out. We have to push each other to be better. It’s not good enough right now.”
Sullivan moved players around before and during the game, trying different line combinations. That didn’t even work as for when they did score, both goals were by the defenseman Letang.
The two-time Stanley Cup champion coach said he still believes in his players and that the answers are currently inside the room.
“Our roster is our roster and we have what we have,” Sullivan said. “We are trying to put the best combinations on the ice that give us the best chance to win. That’s the criteria that I use with my coaching staff. We ask that question every day. We drill down into details and we put the lineup on the ice that gives us the best chance to win.”
“At the end of the day, we have a group we believe in. We have to find a way to get this going in the right direction. Tonight, without a doubt, was a step backwards.”
“We should not look to win the game by a big score or try to outscore teams,” Letang said offering a potential solution. “We should just win by playing a simple game and defend hard. We have so much skill upfront, we will find a way to score goals.”
Sullivan said the road back will start with an attitude and a resilience. They still have everything they want in front of them with 25 games left. If they can put a run together.
“Find a way to win a hockey game,” Crosby said. “That’s how you build momentum. We got to find a way to get one here and turn things around.”
“Pro sports isn’t for the faint of heart,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got to grab a hold of it. We got to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get back in the fight. That’s the message.
Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We got to make sure we bring the right attitude and we work to get better.”
“It feels terrible,” said Pens forward Jason Zucker. “We don’t have a choice. We can’t be down. We love our group here. We are not doing enough right things to win games. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we got to get back after it and get ready for St. Louis.”
Up Next
Pens are at St. Louis on Saturday at 3:30 before returning home Sunday at 6p against Tampa Bay.