Pens remain in last place after loss to Vegas

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – As the Pens fall to 5-8-2, Pens head coach Dan Muse bottom-lined this is following a 3-2 loss to Las Vegas. This after holding a 2-1 lead halfway through the third period.

“We got to get the job done,” Muse said. “We have to find a way.”

Each of the Pens last four losses are by one goal and in each of those games, they blew a lead.

“We had a rough little stretch here” said Pens forward Rickard Rakell, who had the go-ahead goal in the third period. “There’s going to be tight games, especially against teams like Vegas. They are a real good team, confident group. It was there for us.”

“It’s very frustrating to not get any points in this one.”

“We have to close down the games,” said Pens goalie Arturs Silovs. “Penalty kill, it happens too often, we have to bear down and keep going.”

Silovs is 29^th in the NHL with an .888 save percentage and 27^th with a 2.98 goals-against average, but he deserves better. On the game-winning goal, the penalty kill allowed Thomas Hertl free reign around the crease, he also was alone in front on his first goal.

The power play was 0 for 6. 0 for 6.

“Just didn’t put the puck in, we had the looks that we wanted,” Rakell said. “We had some really good opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of it. It wasn’t good enough.”

A part of that 0 for 6 was a 5-on-3 advantage for a 1:22 late in the third period and it was a disaster.

“5 on 3, I don’t think we generated enough,” said defenseman Erik Karlsson. “I think we had one chance, I whiff on it. I think that’s the only chance we had. That obviously is not a great feeling right now that we couldn’t capitalize on a golden opportunity and then lose the way we did.”

“It sucks.”

“It mirrors a lot of our game overall, inconsistent,” Muse said. “There were opportunities there on the 5-on-4s. There were points where the breakdowns setting up was the issue. I thought there was some opportunities. End of the day, 0-6. Special teams ended up playing a big factor in (Tuesday’s) game.”

“We got to get the job done.”

Yet they didn’t in a close game, again.

“It’s not the exact same thing every time, but the bottom line is we have to be resilient in those situations and so far this year, it’s been too many times when we haven’t been,” Muse added.

Here the Pens sit in last place in the Eastern Conference.

“Yeah, it sucks,” said Pens forward Tommy Novak, who had a goal and an assist. “We are obviously fighting for wins here. You think you have a good back half of the game. So it’s on to the next, keep battling. Got a lot of games coming up, keep going and keep trying to build our game.”

“We are just going to have to find a way to get out of it,” Rakell said. “We played some good hockey, but not for a full game. I think that’s what it’s going to take for us to take the next step here, just put a full game together and stick together as a team.”

For the last half-decade, the Pens have scrambled at the end of the season to find enough points to be in the playoffs. These are the games. These are the missed opportunities.

Thursday the Pens host Boston before three of the next five on the road. It’s days into November, but the clock is ticking.