Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has been a staunch defender of his team's play of late, despite Pittsburgh's struggles. That changed Saturday.
The Penguins lost for a seventh time in nine games, dropping a 6-3 contest to Washington at PPG Paints Arena.
"Tonight for me was a different story than the other games," said a shorter-than-usual Sullivan after the game. "Tonight we just weren't good enough."
Sullivan, and his team, have openly taken comfort in playing well through losses of late. But those losses are piling up. Pittsburgh has fallen in seven of its last nine games, and frustration seems to be mounting.
"We weren't good enough to win," forward Brian Boyle said. "We played well through two periods and then we weren't good enough to win. That's just not okay at this time of year.
"The schedule we have and who we're playing, these should be good tests and we need to do the right things more often."
There has also been a disturbing trend developing for the Penguins of late in which the team quickly allows goals shortly after scoring. It happened again Saturday.
Bryan Rust gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead just 45 seconds into the game. 16 second later, the game was tied on a Washington goal by Marcus Johansson.
"It's not any one thing, it's a lot of things," Sullivan said. "At the end of the day it boils down to attention to detail and buying into the game plan."
Washington added another goal, but the Penguins got relatively soft goals by Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov, as Jeff Carter and Boyle found the net.
Samsonov did not allow another by the rest of the way.
But the Penguins did have a lead, and a chance to take down a fellow playoff bound Metropolitan Division foe. And then they got sloppy, committing three penalties in succession early in the second period, setting up a two-man advantage for Washington. Alex Ovechkin rifled a slap shot by Tristan Jarry to tie the game.
"They changed the complexion of the game," Sullivan said. "When you put that power play on the ice, 5-on-3, for two minutes basically, that's a tall task."
Tom Wilson broke the tie midway through the third period, skating around Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel and burying a 2-on-1 shot by Jarry. Washington hit a pair of empty net goals to clinch the win.
"Give Washington credit, they played hard," Sullivan said. "They were opportunistic with their chances. But tonight we didn't play well enough. We beat ourselves in a lot of ways."
The Penguins don't have time to lick their wounds. They're now just four points ahead of the Capitals for the third playoff spot in the Metro, and Washington has played two less games. The Pens turn around and host Nashville, which is currently in a tight battle for a Central Division playoff spot, Sunday evening.
They'll do so on a four-game losing streak, the longest of the season, and seemly heading in the wrong direction with just nine regular season games to play.
"This is tough," Boyle said. "Come playoff time, I don't care how we play, we've got to get wins. All that matters is winning."
