Penguins give up late goal, lose seventh of last nine to Lightning

For the second night in a row and the seventh time in nine games since the holidays, tthe Pittsburgh Penguins came out on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

And on Sunday, it was certainly not for lack of effort.

The Penguins lost another Eastern Conference game, 5-2, to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The score was tied 2-2 midway through the third period. Rickard Rakell and Kevin Hayes – on the power play – scored for the Penguins, and Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov were on the board for the Lightning.

However, with less than four minutes left in regulation, Kucherov capitalized late after Noel Acciari whiffed on an assist attempt to put the Bolts ahead, 3-2.

Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul added empty-net goals at the end to seal the game.

“It’s difficult,” said goalkeeper Tristan Jarry. “A loss is a loss at the end of the day, but I thought the team played well. We did a good job. We were in their zone most of the night. The chances Tampa had were good chances. Those were prime chances. This is what happened tonight.

For most of the game, Pittsburgh dominated Tampa. The Penguins dominated the first period, outshooting the Bolts 15-2 and controlling the game. The problem was that – just like on November 19 – they only had one goal to show for it. in the first period.

For the rest of the match, they still had plenty of chances and mostly controlled the game, apart from the second half of the second period. They dominated Tampa, 33-19. They played a pretty solid defensive game, aside from a few mistakes, and the opportunistic Lightning simply buried them – namely Kucherov’s goal.

They probably deserved a better fate, but all they can do is control what’s in front of them.

“Obviously, it’s easy to say that maybe we deserve this one,” said Philip Tomasino, who played his first match since January 3. “But you have to give them credit. They played hard too. If we continue to play like this, I think we will win most of the games.”

Here are some other notes and observations from this one:

– It was a heartbreaking loss for the Penguins. Things haven’t gone as planned since the holidays, and they’ve gotten into the habit this season of coming back strong after bad defeats like the one against Ottawa Saturday.

The truth is that they came out strong. As previously mentioned, they mostly controlled the game. They were disciplined and didn’t give up a Tampa Bay power play all night. Most of the match was played on their terms.

But they simply couldn’t capitalize early on as they dominated, which ultimately contributed to their downfall. And it also brought them to a point where they had to play mistake-free hockey, which they ultimately failed to accomplish.

Tomasino said there were a lot of positives to take from this one, and I agree. But this one stings, and it’s still a big loss – especially since they’re now two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card spot after playing two more games. And they’re now tied with the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens, who both have three games in hand over the Penguins.

Once again, they have lost seven of their nine since the break and five of their last six. But – apart from Saturday – the matches all seem within reach.

“It’s about details and big plays, and when you string seven plays together, you get those plays, and when you don’t get them, that’s probably the difference,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “But in a lot of these games that we’re coming out of, we feel like we’ve done a lot of good things. That’s probably the most frustrating thing.”

They need to make up for these points somewhere, and somewhere quickly, before their games become too much of an obstacle to overcome.

– Speaking of Tomasino, I found him pretty solid this evening. His line was general. He made a few questionable decisions with the puck, but for the most part he played strong.

Aside from the top line, I thought this line of him, Cody Glass and Drew O’Connor was the best on the Penguins. They generated a lot of chances and started the cycle and forechecks several times, especially in the first half.

The absence of Michael Bunting – who was in a car accident before the game – and Evgeni Malkin – who was retroactively placed on injured reserve on Sunday and is still dealing with an upper-body injury – was, however, very visible. I think this team is at its best when guys like Glass and O’Connor can play in the bottom six.

-I don’t think Glass was bad in these games as the team’s second-line center. He’s a very responsible 200-footer, and he uses his speed and offensive instincts to help the Penguins’ puck possession game.

But he only has one goal this season. I think he or Tomasino will be fine in that right wing role alongside Malkin when he returns, but the Penguins need to start getting more offense from their second line. I think he is better served as a complementary player in a top-six role rather than being the guy who leads the offense on his line.

But right now, there’s really no one else to put there. They need Malkin back ASAP.

– Hayes continues to play good hockey for the Penguins. I feel like I write about him almost every night, but he’s truly been one of the Penguins’ best players since returning to the lineup on January 3.

He now has three goals in those six games, and he spent time on the top power play unit in place of Bunting against Tampa Bay. Despite his goal, I think he’s solid on the power play for the Penguins.

I said it yesterday, and I’ll say it again: he needs to be in the lineup when this team is healthy.

– Acciari had a difficult match. During the first period, he crashed into the Penguins net behind Jarry and hit his head off the ice, cutting him under his visor. He left and didn’t return in the first half, and he came back at the start of the second.

He then made the play that led to Kucherov’s goal in the third period.

It’s difficult to evaluate Acciari’s play when so much of his minutes are spent on penalties. But on nights like tonight – when it wasn’t necessary – it’s easier to notice some of the other details of his game.

Honestly, I don’t see him enough right now, just like Nieto. I would even add Blake Lizotte, although I think he plays better and still plays a role below what he is capable of playing.

When everyone is healthy, I would like to see other guys in the group with Lizotte, if he indeed wants to continue to be the fourth line center of this team. Role placement is another discussion for another time.

– Even though the Penguins controlled the game, they didn’t feel like some of their defensive details were where they needed to be. I thought the team did a good job of clogging shooting lanes and limiting high-danger opportunities, especially in that second half.

But they still made a few mistakes and gave up too many A-grade chances.

“Any time you’re able to put in an effort like that and you don’t get a result, there’s something wrong,” defenseman Kris Letang said. moments. And we must correct them. And we have to be able to maintain the same effort and the same style of play that we played for two periods, and we give ourselves a chance to win.

I tend to agree. It always seems like teams take advantage of every bad mistake the Penguins make. Which brings me to my final point.

– The Penguins haven’t been a good defensive team for several years. They made these mistakes. They gave up some prime chances.

The difference, for me, is always the goalkeeper.

I’m not going to be the one to say it was on Jarry. He made a huge breakaway save against Brandon Hagel on a power play in the third period to keep the game tied.

But I still think some details of his game are missing. He still gave up the first goal on the first five shots, which was almost a given this season. And when asked what’s wrong, he always seems to place the blame elsewhere.

He pointed out that A-grade chances had been abandoned, which is still true. And he pointed to the penalty when asked about the recent losing streak, which had nothing to do with Sunday’s loss.

“I think we need to get a little better on the penalty kill,” Jarry said. “I think the penalty kill is what helped our team, as well as the power play, right before (the break). When we were getting saves like that, it gave us momentum and we came back to play in their end if we can get back to that and play a good team game – guys are doing everything they can, they’re blocking shots, they’re doing what they have to do – just helping out in that area. will really help our game.”

Ned is the first man to be blamed for a loss, even if it is not his fault. I’m not saying it was Jarry’s fault. But goaltending has – without a doubt – been a problem for this team since the break and for most of the season. And some accountability could go a long way.

If the Penguins expect to make a run — or even if they don’t — they need to put Joel Blomqvist or Filip Larsson on the next bus to Pittsburgh.