There’s an unfortunate pattern developing for the Penguins during this 1-4-1 stretch to start November.
There was that 3-0 third-period lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs, followed by four unanswered goals and a regulation loss last Monday.
Last Thursday, there was that 3-0 second-period lead against the Washington Capitals. That was gone by the end of the frame, although the Pens ultimately regained the lead on a third-period power play.
Next was Saturday’s frustrating matchup with the New Jersey Devils, during which the Penguins consistently controlled play but were unable to find a third-period or OT goal in time to stave off a shootout loss.
The following day, the Pens were up 3-2 in the third period when they gave up another two unanswered goals in a regulation Sunday loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
Most recently, the Pens opened up the 2025 Global Series by continuing the same pattern Friday in Stockholm.
The Penguins had a lead all the way up until the Nashville Predators pulled their goalie and scored with 1:10 remaining in the third period.
The Pens didn’t get a shot off in 44 seconds of overtime before Steven Stamkos scored to seal the Preds’ win.
Most of these games have had plenty of positive moments for the Pens, who looked flat-out dominant especially for stretches of their losses to the Maple Leafs and Devils.
Head coach Dan Muse indicated Friday night he felt the loss to the Predators, however, stood out as one of the Penguins’ worse defeats over this stretch.
Not only did the Pens’ only goal of the night come on a fluky bounce off a defender, but they were forced to concede a loss to a Preds team currently racing the Calgary Flames and Buffalo Sabres to the bottom of the NHLs standings.
“I think they’re all a little bit different, when you go back and look at them,” Muse said about this stretch. “Different factors at play… if you go back to some of the more recent games that were close, I liked a lot of our game.
“I didn’t feel like that was the case tonight. I feel like we were off in terms of our details. We were off in terms of the execution.”
Erik Karlsson sounded similarly disappointed in his postgame interview. “I think we all know in here that we have put a better product of hockey on the ice for most part of the season,” he told reporters Friday.
After so many bright spots to point toward during this stretch, Pens fans will have to hope a lackluster showing on a global stage against a relatively weak opponent will spark some changes as to how this team controls play down the stretch of games.
The Pens are 9-5-4 after Friday’s loss. They need to start finding ways to win quickly or else risk falling behind the New York Islanders (9-6-2) or Mike Sullivan’s New York Rangers (9-7-2) in the Metropolitan Division standings.