TORONTO — The Pittsburgh Penguins wasted a golden chance to win a game and further drop the failing Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference. In a game they easily could have won with just a modicum of care, their otherwise careless puck management at the blue line gift-wrapped a few goals for Toronto.
None of the Toronto goals were hard-earned tallies. All four goals scored with a goalie in the net were direct results of the Penguins’ mistakes in a 6-3 Penguins loss.
It certainly wasn’t a “Toronto win.”
The Penguins had more than enough opportunity to bury the halfhearted Toronto team that fired its assistant coach Marc Savard the night before, sports the worst power play in the NHL (13.3%), and otherwise showed the passion and intensity of an inter-office gift exchange.
And yet it was the Penguins whose jaw-dropping gaffes put three Toronto goals on the board in the first 40 minutes and the game-winner on the board mid-way through the third period.
Three breakaways and an own goal.
It started early.
“Yeah, the chances that we gave out were big ones,” said dejected coach Dan Muse. “So, I think there was a lot that we could have controlled not to allow those types of chances. They ended up factoring in a big way in the game.”
Penguins center Kevin Hayes capped a pair of great shifts with a terrible giveaway at the offensive blue line that sprung William Nylander’s first-period breakaway goal.
Hayes had been driving the play and controlling the puck in his first couple of shifts, but he got too cute taking the puck laterally on the blue line and had nowhere to go. It was an unfortunate, but indelible mark on Hayes’s good game.
Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon badly fanned on a slower shot by Mattias Macelli from the wall, and instead of swatting away the garbage shot, redirected it into the Penguins’ net.
And Erik Karlsson’s footloose and fancy free blueline moonwalk ended when Steven Lorentz simply took the puck, and Karlsson fell to the ice. His face wore a look of disgust as he lingered on the ice. Lorentz had time for a 150 breakaway, including three shots.
Karlsson got way too cute, though he didn’t shy away from talking about it postgame.
“Yeah, he did a good job staying with me. I kind of ran out of options and lost an edge and fell, and they capitalized on it. It stinks,” Karlsson said. “Obviously, stuff like that you can eliminate. But then at the same time, things can happen, you’ve got to move on.
“I don’t think we caught any breaks today, and they caught all of them, and they made us pay for it.”
Defenseman Kris Letang was solid again Tuesday, until a third-period turnover at the offensive blue line sprang another Nylander breakaway, Ben Kindel penalty for slashing Nylander on the frantic trackback, and a chaotic couple of minutes that ended with Max Domi’s game-winner at 4v4 in the middle of the third period.
Domi put the puck through defenseman Brett Kulak’s skates and breezed by him for the winner.
The mistakes were jarring. Ghastly. Pretty much of the unacceptable variety.
“I think it goes to some of these types of chances we’re talking about, you know? It’s odd-man rushes, breakaways, you know, those are ones–There’s going to be breakdowns in the game, and those are going to happen. Right now it’s too frequent,” Muse said.
Penguins Analysis
Not only were the defensemen mistake-filled and the Toronto mistake-fueled, but the Penguins’ forwards were also too cute.
The number of shots forwards, including Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust, passed up was not insignificant. The high-quality shots that the Penguins’ top line declined in favor of one more cute pass could have ended the game in the first period.
Toronto was not mentally sharp. They were soft, detached, and generally lethargic, yet the Penguins did not drive the hockey stake through their heart. Instead, the Penguins did their best to pump life into the morose Maple Leafs.
Toronto had to deal with a rowdy pregame presser in which the topics were firing assistant coach Marc Savard, which players have asked for a trade, and which players might be asked to waive their no-trade clause.
The stuffing had been knocked out of them by the opening puck drop, and the Penguins couldn’t limit their mistakes.
Tactically, the Penguins’ second and third lines were good, and they did the things they needed to do to have success: Got deep in the zone, created some traffic in front of the net, got on loose pucks, and pressured Toronto with intent.
“I feel like (good at) changing sides, getting net front presence, and just shooting the puck,” said Rutger McGroarty. “I feel like we had some high danger changes tonight. And obviously, you can always get to the net more (often). I mean, every goalie always struggles when they can’t see … But I feel like overall, we were hunting pucks.”
Penguins Report Card
Team: F
The mistakes were so dreadful as to be a self-inflicted belligerent assault on their own chances. Lacksadiasical trackbacks on breakaways. Careless puckhandling at the blueline.
They could have, should have boatraced Toronto. Instead, they lost. The Penguins remain winless in Toronto since 2022, 0-4-1.
Stuart Skinner: B+
For those hellbent on not liking the Tristan Jarry trade or Skinner, he could have made an extra save. In the end, he allowed three breakaway goals, stopped a couple more breakaways, stopped a three-on-one that registered a couple of shots, and generally looked good.
Anthony Mantha-Tommy Novak-Justin Brazeau: A
The line scored one goal, had one taken away, and generally did their job. On the scroll of mistakes that would make Martin Luther blush, the second line had zone time, pressure, and production.
“They’re good players to play with,” said Novak with a deflated shrug.
Novak had two shots on goal and two more that didn’t get there. Brazeau had three on net and two that misfired. Mantha and three on net and two that were blocked or missed, too.
Rutger McGroarty: A
It might have been his best game in the NHL. He was all over the ice. McGroarty pressured Toronto on the forecheck, had a few backcheck steals, scored a goal, and generally was strong on his skates and puck.
Ryan Shea-Jack St. Ivany: Solid
A strong game from St. Ivany, as the stay-at-home defenseman, played with some grit and simplicity. His D partner, Ryan Shea, was also very good, with a lot of direct skating, stopping and starting, aggressive pursuit, and physicality.
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