In the hope of snapping their three game losing skid and giving head coach Mike Sullivan his first win as Pittsburgh’s coach. The Penguins (15-12-3) hosted the Boston Bruins (17-9-4) this time around, but the result remained as Pittsburgh lost their third straight game, 6-2.
Special Teams Trouble
Tonight’s game featured a Penguin’s power play that finished the game with no goals on five power play opportunities. Wasted shots led to easy clears and predictability from the offense. Bruins’ Tuuka Rask had another sensational game, nabbing 23 saves and was a major reason as to why the power play struggled.
Another aspect of this struggling offense is that no there is no player blocking the opponent goalie’s sight. Reviewing tape from tonight’s game, there are too few times where a Penguin is seen standing in front of Rask impeding his ability to see the puck. Instead, they appear out of place and give Rask a direct line of sight to the shooter.
On the defensive end of the ice the Penguins penalty kill stopped the Bruins three times on four of their power plays. Their only power play goal came from Loui Eriksson (12) that gave Boston a 3-2 lead halfway into the second period.
Size Matters
An obvious reason as to why Pittsburgh has been bullied these past two games is because of the size and physical play of defensemen Zdeno Chara and Adam McQuaid who tower over most other Penguins. Rask had the advantage of players like Chara who have bulldozed over players in order to clear the lane.
Several times tonight shots deep into the area of his goalie, Chara made his presence known by clearing out Penguins players. This led to Boston being able to successfully clear the puck for a line change or give Rask the ability to freeze play.
In the last two games Pittsburgh has been physically outmatched, specifically when near or in the crease. Rask, who struggled early in the season has been on a tear lately winning seven straight qualifying games, including tonight, where he has allowed only eight goals and finished three shutouts.
Late Game Collapse
For the eighth straight game, the Penguins allowed a first period goal. Less than two minutes after Conor Sheary (1) scored his first goal of his career, Boston’s Frank Vatrano (3) tied the game up where it would stay until the second period. In the second half newly acquired Trevor Daley scored a slap shot, but would allow the Bruins to score two more in the period to have a 3-2 lead going into the final frame.
There, the Penguins’ defense completely unfolded and allowed three goals, two from Vatrano (4,5) who would record a hat trick with a little under five minutes left in the game. Pittsburgh’s defense remained stagnant and had a very poor show of effort. Vatrano’s second goal came with four Penguins surrounding him as Jeff Zatkoff laid down thinking the puck was under him. The goal was eventually smacked in surrounded by still Penguins.
What’s Next?
Losing eight of their last 10, Pittsburgh is looking to try and put the train back on the track tomorrow night against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Consol Energy Center at 7p.m.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
