PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s one thing to be on a losing skid, it’s another when you feel like you are the ones beating yourselves. Such were the Pittsburgh Penguins again Monday night in a 4-3 loss to Anaheim.
“Right now we are finding ways to lose,” said Pens head coach Mike Sullivan.
This one in particular hurt as, with the score tied, the Pens were on a five-on-three power play for nearly the last two minutes of the game. As the first penalty was expiring with roughly 15 seconds left, Ducks center Adam Henrique got the puck and found Mason McTavish coming out of the penalty box for a breakaway. He buried it top-shelf past Tristan Jarry for a short-handed goal to give the Ducks the win.
“We have almost two minute five-on-three, great chance to win,” said Evgeni Malkin. “It’s our fault for sure, the first unit power play. We lost the game.”
Malkin wasn’t the only one taken blame for the loss.
“It’s frustrating,” said goalie Tristan Jarry. “We need some points. Obviously, I need to be better. I think that’s the bottom line. The guys need a save there at the end or one of the other ones. It’s just a step for me to be better.”
There were two goals that Jarry maybe could have, should have saved. He would stop 23 of 27 shots. Jarry’s only wins have come on shutouts as his save percentage is down to .901—33rd in the NHL and his goals against average is 2.62—20th in the league.
“It’s tough, when you are losing games that’s the hardest part,” Jarry said. “You never want to lose. You play the game to win. I don’t think I’ve been giving the guys enough chances to win every night.”
“I think Tristan has been like our whole team,” Sullivan said. “We’ve had moments when we’ve been really good and we’ve had moments when we haven’t been.”
5 of 6 now
That marks five losses in the last six games, four of those games at home with the only win against then unbeaten Colorado. It’s been a mixture of things, not just Jarry. Even though they scored on a five-on-four and five-on-three Monday, the power play has been draught-ridden.
Rickard Rakell doesn’t have a goal. The fourth line doesn’t have a point.
“It tough, between winning and losing is one mistake,” Malkin said. “We should play better. The team fought all night. We can’t play like this.”
“We are not happy right now. How we play at home. We fought every inch, every period. We can’t stop, it’s just the beginning of the season. We need to focus on the next game. I believe in this group. I believe in what we are doing. Just support each other and play hard. We have no choice. The game is not easy. Every team fights. We need to fight back.”
“I think when you look at the way the games are being played here the last handful of games,” Sullivan said. “There’s been significant amounts of time we have been the better team. Right now, we are finding ways to lose. We got to find ways to win. Do we have to make some changes? We might have to.”
“This one is a discouraging one because once again I thought for most of the night we carried the play and came out on the wrong side of the score.”
“We have a lot of hockey ahead of us. We have to dig in and win the next game.”
15th all-time
With his assist on the Evgeni Malkin goal, Sidney Crosby broke a tie with Hall of Fame Penguin Mark Recchi for sole position of 15th place on the NHL’s all-time assists list with 957. Doug Gilmore is 14th with 964 with Mario Lemieux the Pens all-time leader with 1,033.
Up Next
Pens make a West Coast trip starting Saturday at San Jose at 10p, then at Anaheim on November 7 and at the Kings on November 9.