Well, that was a stinker.
The Pittsburgh Penguins six game winning streak landed with a thud. Goalie Arturs Silovs kept the Penguins in the game, but despite an effort that disgusted coach Dan Muse, a controversial goal was the difference in a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators Monday at PPG Paints Arena.
For the Penguins skaters, the ice more closely resembled quicksand They were ever ensnared in Ottawa neutral zone trap and seemingly forever on the defensive side of the puck.
The game was a snoozer. The Penguins stubbornly, then impatiently, were swallowed up by the Ottawa Senators’ 1-4 neutral zone system that was content first to take away any potential offense.
Head coach Dan Muse was not in a mood to shrug his shoulders or excuse the poor performance. The coach probaby more sharp tongued than he’s been all season.
“Yeah, it was flat. It was execution. It was races. Battles,” said Dan Muse. “I mean, it wasn’t (long pause), yeah, I think (Silovs) had a really strong game. Our penalty kill did a good job. Outside of that, I don’t think there’s much else I’m walking away here liking.”
The Penguins had just three shots in the second period, none within spitting distance of the Ottawa net. In fact, from later in the first period to midway through the second, the Penguins went 17:05 without a shot on goal.
And very few attempts.
“I thought it wasn’t there tonight. You look at the missed opportunities, starting with just our execution coming out of our zone. Like the first couple of shifts, there’s plays to be made and we’re not making them,” said Muse. “The support wasn’t there. And then, as you got to the end of it, especially the back half of the first and throughout most of the rest of the game, it was just playing into the game that they want to play.”
Yet the teams hit the second intermission tied 1-1, courtesy of Egor Chinakhov’s stunning wrist shot. In a rare moment of a counterattack for the Penguins, Evgeni Malkin and Chinakhov raced into the offensive zone two-on-two, but Chinakhov left his defender well behind. Malkin’s little backhand flip pass was in a perfect spot for Chinakhov, who disguised his shot, then snapped a wrister through Linus Ullmark’s five-hole at 7:57 of the first period.
It was Chinakhov’s 10th goal of the season and seventh goal in 16 games with the Penguins. His skating is better than advertised, his defensive work a revelation, and his ability to see an opportunity and accelerate to the opening makes him a legitimately dangerous offensive threat.
If you’re keeping track, Chinakhov is on a 35-goal pace.
Tommy Novak scored a third period goal from the blue paint to tie the game 2-2. Those were the highlights.
“I’m so sorry (for swearing), it was shitty game, but we managed to go through it,” Ilya Solovyov told PHN. “Especially for me, like, the second period was like, ‘Oh my God.’ Like, one time I make a play–it’s loose–the stick breaks. You know, it’s something like magical, but it is what it is.
“We just (had to) go through it, and I think we showed our character–when the game is not going in the right way, we just tried to push it anyways.”
If only the Penguins had the puck in the offensive zone, not staring at four defenders between them and the net at almost every touch, perhaps Chinakhov could have done more.
The Penguins had just 10 shots after 40 minutes. Counting misses and attempts, the Penguins had 24 shot attempts, compared to Ottawa’s 50 attempts, and 24 on net.
The Penguins finished with only 16 shots, yielding 34, but a flurry of those were in the final few minutes after the Penguins pulled the goalie for the extra attacker.
“The only reason this was a close game was Artie,” said Muse.
The Goal?
The deciding goal was scored with 5:08 remaining in the game. Karlsson’s bad night hit bottom as Claude Giroux swatted a fluttering puck forward past Karlsson for a breakaway.
What happened next is a matter of interpretation. Refs gave Karlsson a tripping minor for getting his stick into Giroux’s legs. It was a worthy call but Giroux tried to deke Silovs, unsuccessfully.
Silovs made a left pad save, but Giroux plowed through Silovs like one of the few operational Pittsburgh Public Works trucks. The contact sent the puck across the line and the net flying off the moorings.
Refs huddled. Reviewed. Called a goal. Silovs had a bit to say about it.
“For me, it doesn’t make sense. Like, what? He came in, I stopped the puck, and then the second, he goes, like, 25 miles (per hour), like going down. What they expect me to do, like, I don’t understand?” Silovs said. “How do they think–whether protecting players or not, especially goalies, I don’t understand this rule. What’s the decision there? You know, I would understand if it would go (in) straight away and then I agree with a call, but, like, it’s a second effort. So, I don’t really agree with a call.”
Coach Dan Muse didn’t like the call, either. He challenged for goalie interference–a low percentage challenge even under the best of circumstances, but with the pending tripping call on Karlsson and the referees already reviewing for the puck crossing the line before the net hit the back boards, Muse’s odds were even worse to win it.
No matter. Muse was firm, postgame.
“I’d challenge that one again,” Muse said.
Solovyov added more.
“I don’t know, it’s no goal. Like, in any world, I think it’s no goal,” Solovyov said.
Penguins Analysis
Lackluster efforts are going to happen in an 82-game schedule, especially one as compressed as this season. The Penguins just didn’t have their mojo Monday. They were salmon heading up the St. Lawrence for most of the game.
Ottawa stayed above the puck in order to preserve their defensive structure that looked like an army facing the Penguins’ three forwards, who attempted to skate with the puck.
Digging the Penguins’ deadlegged hole even deeper, top defenseman Erik Karlsson had a rough night. A couple of bad turnovers and a few more times Ottawa forwards flew past him on the way to the net, inlcuding the disputed goal that was the game winner.
“I think we were sloppy a lot, along with they played a hard, good game, too,” Tommy Novak said. “So I think the bounces, the pucks were bouncing off a little bit. We weren’t executing at the level where we have been recently. So, yeah, sloppy one.”
Through the 40 minutes, the Penguins didn’t do the good things necessary to break the Ottawa structure. Namely, the Penguins didn’t take the little bit of ice in the neutral zone, chip it in, and get on a physical forecheck.
The fourth line with Blake Lizotte did a few times. The thundered the Ottawa defensemen and created a few loose pucks and whiffs of opportunity. The other three lines seemed to be waiting for their chance to skate on the rush … which never came.
“We’ve shown enough throughout the course of the year that we can generate off the forecheck. We can get into the offensive zone, and we don’t have to force it early on, and we can generate that way,” Muse said. “We weren’t doing that tonight. And so now we spent–it felt like the great, great, great majority of the game either defending or without the puck, and you don’t want to play that game.”
At 5v5, the Penguins were on the short side of the shot attempts 47-27. They were outshot 31-16, and outchanced 28-15, all according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
Penguins Report Card
Team: F
It was tough sledding. Ottawa was content to sit on a 1-0 deficit, then a 1-1 tie. After six wins in a row and a 13-2-2 run, a date with the Undertaker was a matter of time. Not even Sidney Crosby was in sync, as pucks hopped away or bounced off his stick.
And yet the Penguins had a chance, tied 1-1, into the third period. However, they didn’t execute on basic breakouts or hold the puck in the offensive zone. Until later in the third period, there was not consecutive shifts with offensive zone pressure.
Arturs Silovs: A+
The Penguins’ best player. By far. Brilliant, spectacular.
Anthony Mantha: A+
If there was a Penguins skater on his game, it was Mantha, who held the puck in the offensive one. He slipped, he evaded, he went to the net to create chances. He visibly had some hop.
Parker Wotherspoon: A
Wotherspoon was downright vicious a few times in clearing Ottawa players from around the net. After Connor Clifton abused Shane Pinto on a shift in the first period, Wotherspoon followed it up with more abuse. It was a running theme for Wotherspoon who was solid, and mean.
Rough Performances
Erik Karlsson: F
It was not a good game, with big turnovers and big defensive lapses. He didn’t have the good moments to offset the bad. Claude Giroux cut through Karlsson and Wotherspoon for the potential breakaway winner with 5:08 to go. Without a winger on his left, Karlsson has to slide to the middle to take that away.
Sidney Crosby: C
The top line with Justin Brazeau in place of Bryan Rust just didn’t have any snap, three games running. However, even Crosby looked out of sorts and uncomfortable. Things picked up when Muse put Anthony Mantha on the line in place of Brazeau, but the team still didn’t have enough for a third goal.
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