PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – So much for the Pens making us forget about the Steelers. A second embarrassing loss in four days to the team’s rivals, this one 6-3 at Philadelphia. Some key points of the loss Wednesday.
Special teams gives up first two goals
“Specialty teams are a huge part of today’s game and we want to have a great penalty kill,” said forward Brandon Tanev. “I think its just us coming together as a group and getting better day-by-day. Obviously, we weren’t happy with the penalty kill today. I think we need to have onus in the specialty teams with the shortened season and really bear down in situations.
“We’ll do video and we’ll work on it. We know that we can be better. That group that we have, the PK, we take a lot of pride in it to control games in that situation. We didn’t get the job done tonight.”
It will be ok
“I thought we had periods of the game where we carried the play,” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “I think the types of breakdowns that we had resulted in some high quality scoring chances against. We have to do a better job of making sure we minimize some of those catastrophic-type scenarios. There were a lot of good things too. I don’t think the score of the game is an indication of how the game was played.”
“We were controlling a lot of the play, just a couple of bounces here and there,” said forward Mark Jankowski.
“Sometimes its how the puck goes with the bounces,” Tanev said. “They weren’t going our way. I thought we played a great game. I think we had a lot of great chances. We had some momentum at times. There were some breakdowns in our game. I think as the group grows and we get better day-by-day, we try to eliminate that from our game. We are looking forward to the next one.”
“Short training camp, new people coming in,” said defenseman John Marino. “Just got to get the chemistry down. I don’t think anyone in the locker room is worried about it. It’s the first game of the year and we have a lot to build off of.”
“We definitely had our chances. I wouldn’t say the score was indicative of how the game went. I definitely think we had our moments too. Sometimes they just got the bounces.”
Jankowski scores in first period
First goal of the NHL season was his first as a Penguin, free agent signee Mark Jankowski scored as part of a pair of goals from the new third line.
“For the most part, I think our line was good tonight,” Jankowski said. “I think we were hard on pucks in the forecheck. Didn’t give them too much in the D zone. I think we just have to build off that. I think overall as a team we did a lot of good things tonight. Some mistakes cost us there. We can be better on the PK and some aspects of the game. I think there is a lot to build off of for our team.”
Matheson struggled
Another newcomer didn’t have as good a night, unable to move a stick leading to the first Flyers PP goal, committed a cross-check penalty leading to a second Flyers goal. Former Florida Panther Mike Matheson, a first round pick who is trying to rebuild his game with the Pens, also was on the ice for a 5-on-5 goal.
“Mike’s trying to get used to the type of game that we play,” Sullivan said. “We are going to work with him here through the beginning part of the season to try and help him simplify his game in certain areas of the rink. To Mike’s defense, he’s trying to learn some of the concepts and the way we are trying to play here. I don’t think Mike got the benefit of any puck luck tonight and that certainly didn’t help him.”
“I myself and some other guys have to help him out too,” his defensive partner Marino said. “I think building chemistry is going to take time. It’s not going to happen right away. We had a shortened training camp and we can build off this game today.”
“We will certainly encourage him,” Sullivan added. “It’s a game of mistakes out there. It’s not always going to go your way. We just have to make sure we learn through the experiences. Our coaching staff is committed to help Mike through some of these processes. This game is not an easy game. It’s not for the faint of heart. You have to make sure you dust yourself off and you get back in the fight.”