Penguins Breakdown: Awful Defense Sinks Again; White Flag Surrender

TAMPA, Fla. — By the final horn, there was nothing left to do and nothing left to say.

Pittsburgh Penguins winger Boko Imama tried to goad Tampa Bay Lightning’s Brandon Hagel into a fight in the third period, but Tampa Bay was already leading 6-0, and Hagel is a star player. You may remember him from Team Canada’s victory in the Four Nations tournament, and Hagel had no reason to fight.

Tampa Bay beat the Penguins 6-1 at Amalie Arena. Or, more accurately, the Penguins beat themselves far worse, but Tampa Bay only bothered to score six.

Read More: Penguins’ Pathetic Effort Began in Morning; Get Crushed by Tampa Bay

Hagel thundered Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk into the boards on the first shift of the second period. It was a clean hit but registered on local seismographs. Grzelcyk left the game for a short time but returned.

Imama was the last player trying to affect some change, but his actions were out of place, and the referees harshly penalized him with a double minor and a 10-minute misconduct.

Imama, who played 5:41, had to sit for most of the third period. He was the lucky one.

If the team had given up a goal, maybe two in the first period, it would have been a different game. The Penguins began with a structured, if not workmanlike effort, but then ran the white flag up the pole. Tampa Bay scored four goals in 3:47.

“We just didn’t play well enough. You know, most of the first (period), I don’t think it was all that bad, but it just seemed like every chance went in the net,” said coach Mike Sullivan. “It was one of those nights.”

Of course, those goals were the result of more brutal defensive zone coverage. On the third and fourth Tampa Bay goals, the Penguins’ defensemen were a new level of terrible as they chased the puck as if it were Day 1 of the Sidney Crosby Learn-to-Play camp.

On average teams, mind-melting breakdowns happen once in a while. The Penguins have picked up a few times per game habit.

On Goal 3, Grzelcyk was caught puck-watching. He left the ice open, with his eyes focused on the already covered puck carrier.

Sure, the Penguins were 5-1-1 in their last seven games, but the biggest difference was that goalies Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped the Grade A chances until the Penguins settled down.

Tuesday was a gross cavalcade of the worst of the Penguins’ season highlights: Unacceptably bad defense and soft goaltending. Despite the ungodly defense, Jarry also had a chance to stop goals No. 3 and 4.

“Just quick hits. I mean, a couple of rush plays. It wasn’t like they were carrying the play or putting us back on our heels. They’re really dangerous off the rush,” said Sidney Crosby. “And they executed on a few plays … the other two (goals 3 and 4), we just weren’t tight off the rush and they made us pay.”

Crosby was taking blame that wasn’t his.

OK, no problem. Mistakes happen, right? Surely, the third goal was a wake-up call, and things would settle.

If you believe that, I’ve got some swampland between here and Lake Okachobee to sell you. Just 48 seconds later, the Penguins’ defense continued their season-long blooper reel and repeated the same mistake.

The exact same mistake. Identical. How does this happen twice in the same minute of a professional hockey game?

This time, it was Conor Timmins who was star-gazing as Brayden Point entered the zone. Timmins didn’t see star winger Jake Guentzel casually skating on the right flank.

Jarry stopped Guentzel’s rip from the left wing, but Erik Karlsson failed to prevent Point from poking the rebound into the net. Actually, Karlsson wrapped his arms around Point’s chest, but Point had enough movement to direct the puck to the net.

It was an interesting technique but ultimately unsuccessful.

Afterward, it was the Penguins who needed a hug.

Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves didn’t factor directly into any of Tampa Bay’s goals, but it wasn’t because he played well. Point undressed him at the blue line and scooted toward the net for a Grade A chance. Graves also dumped Nikita Kucherov onto Nedeljkovic, drawing an interference penalty, on which Kucherov scored a goal.

Graves mightily struggled in his own zone, failing to clear and failing in puck battles.

The pair of Penguins defensemen who performed their tasks without incident were Kris Letang and Vladislav Kolyachonok, who had one of his better games, if not his best, with the Penguins.

The Penguins own the rights to all of their defensemen, except Grzelcyk, for next season, but that should not be a selling point to anyone. Instead of building from the back out, the Penguins are rotting in that direction.