The Pittsburgh Penguins entered Saturday night’s game having picked up their first win of 2025, beating the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. However, the Ottawa Senators got under their skin, shutting out the Penguins at home 5-0.
The two teams combined for 15 penalties in the first half, but the damage was already done on the scoreboard. The Senators took a 3-0 lead and never looked back.
Finally, the Penguins don’t have time to dwell on their latest defeat since the Tampa Bay Lightning are in town on Sunday.
What went wrong on Saturday?
Senators stop Penguins’ momentum for the second time
When the Penguins first met the Senators this year, they had just beaten the Montreal Canadiens 9-2, and within 48 hours, they had forgotten how to score.
The Penguins can’t seem to break through against the Senators, whether it’s because of Ottawa’s nervous physical style or their closed defensive system. They now go into matchups against the Senators after big wins and feel humiliated.
These two teams, who are fighting for a wildcard spot, will not meet again until March 30 in Ottawa. It will be interesting to see the implications for this end-of-season competition.
Outrage over special teams power
Despite winning in 2025, the Penguins had become one of the league’s deadliest power play units, converting 38.1% of their chances since Christmas.
However, Saturday was a disaster for Pittsburgh, who not only went 0 for 6 on the power play, but also allowed two power play goals and one shorthanded goal.
Ultimately, head coach Mike Sullivan contested Shane Pinto’s first goal of the game and came up short, allowing Ottawa to score on the ensuing power play, and the Penguins found themselves in a deep hole.
Ottawa’s physicality in the first period caused the Penguins to lose their game. Whenever they had an advantage, they never got much going and, for all their recent success, they had nothing to show on Saturday.
Will Nedeljkovic and Jarry take the Penguins to the playoffs?
Interestingly, the Penguins are ranked 12th in the NHL with 132 goals scored, but with five more goals allowed in Saturday’s game, they have given up 160 this season, nine more than the San Jose Sharks.
Since opening week, Pittsburgh leads the NHL in this category, which is concerning.
At one point, the Colorado Avalanche were trailing the Penguins at the bottom of this statistical category, but traded away their entire goaltending tandem.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh continues to roll with Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic, hoping the duo can keep the team in the playoff race. But with a team GAA above 3.60, history is not on the Penguins’ side to surpass those totals and clinch a playoff spot.
Answers to the Penguins and Senators quiz
What was your score in our Match day quiz quiz? Here are the answers.
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Shawn McEachern
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Alexandre Daigle
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Magnus Hellberg
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Marian Hossa
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Patrick Lalimé
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Evgeny Malkin
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Eric Cairns
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Jaromir Jagr
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Brad Thiessen
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Tom Barrasso
Related: Penguins Regarding Statistical Derailment Season
