Penguins Room: Karlsson Addresses Trade Talk; Blomqvist Has Rookie Pains

On one end of the spectrum is Pittsburgh Penguins winger Rickard Rakell. He scored two goals, including a wonderful individual charge off the opening faceoff of the third period to tie the game.

On the other end of the spectrum is Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson. His mistakes directly led to a trio of Toronto Maple Leafs goals, and a few more Karlsson turnovers put the Penguins in some bad spots.

Toronto won their fifth in a row when William Nylander snapped a wrist shot past goalie Joel Blomqvist 1:00 into overtime for a wild 6-5 victory over the Penguins.

Oh, it was an entertaining game, circa 1985, for the home crowd, complete with some sketchy goaltending, star players lighting the lamp, and an unpredictable nature that made a goal feel imminent for most of the 61 minutes. It certainly had that minor league feel of when a pair of teams are playing a Sunday afternoon jam, their third game in three days, and structure was going to take a back seat.

However, the fissures in the Penguins foundation were only more visible.

As one professional coach who regularly communicates with Pittsburgh Hockey Now texted, “It’s a death by 1000 cuts. Everything is off.”

The Penguins had a half dozen or more players on their toes Sunday. The forwards crew rallied several times and took control of the game.

Rakell had a pair of beauties. Bryan Rust swept across the crease for a stuff-in from Sidney Crosby. Even the fourth line chipped in a pretty goal, whether it’s ultimately credited to Cody Glass for a deflection or defenseman Ryan Shea for the original shot, matters little.

Glass and the fourth line were quite good. So, too, were Sidney Crosby, Rust, and Rakell.

However, the Penguins also had too many defensemen who were not on their game. Sunday, the D-corp (or is it corpse?) was problematic, at best. At worst, it was an implosion that sunk the team’s effort.

Ryan Graves continued to struggle, but perhaps the one d-man who didn’t have some issues was Ryan Shea, who was solid beside Kris Letang.

According to Karlsson, the team was a bit mentally worn down by Saturday’s loss to the Boston Bruins and wasn’t at its best.

“We were battling hard. I think we had a tough game yesterday. I think, mentally, we were probably a little bit fatigued today. That’s probably why we made a couple of too many mistakes (because of) a back-to-back,” said Karlsson. “Overall, we played a pretty solid game. (Toronto) obviously capitalized on the chances that they got. But I think, for the most part, guys battle hard and did the right things out there–just some untimely goals against.”

Penguins Analysis

It’s not fun to heap boulders of blame upon one player. However, Karlsson’s mistakes on Sunday were center stage, under the bright lights, and quite rough.

His ill-timed line change near the end of the second period gifted Toronto center John Tavares a breakaway goal.

His turnover with a blind, turning pass off the final faceoff of the second period with about three seconds remaining was ghastly and gifted Matthew Knies a breakaway goal with 0.1 seconds remaining.

“We were talking about it. I’ve played almost 1100 games. So, for me, that’s never happened with that little time left,” Karlsson said. “It’s pretty much like a freak thing. I think we executed as fast as we could. It’s just that they get a jump on it. I don’t really know what to say since–we talked about it–no one’s seen that (before).”

The Penguins coach was a little more grounded on the goal.

“You’d like to think we wouldn’t do that,” said coach Mike Sullivan.

Karlsson had six turnovers Saturday and three more Sunday; scorers could have levied several more. Following the game, he offered up a few tidbits of humanity. The trade deadline is less than five days away. The schedule and the NHL trade deadline, which is figuratively barreling down the tracks like a runaway locomotive, are quite stressful for the team.

It’s easy to say players should ignore it.

It’s much harder to live on that side of it.

“Obviously, in my situation, I have a full say on whether anything happens or not. I have not been asked (to waive my no-movement clause), and until I do get asked whenever that is–I’ll take a stance until then,” said Karlsson. “I’m not worrying about it because, again, I have nothing to worry about. And because I’ll be the first one to know, I’m sure, and then I’ll deal with that situation if that occurs.

“Up until now, it hasn’t it hasn’t been on my mind. And it’s not something that I’m walking around thinking about. But, you know, it obviously is a stressful time here for most of this group right now. The situation we’re in, and everybody’s been around long enough to know what’s going to happen, most likely. And you know, that weighs on you.”

Karlsson’s name has percolated in recent days in the NHL trade chatter as the Penguins fall further and further out of the race and time runs shorter.

Earlier this week, Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill reportedly bristled when asked about speculation that Karlsson could be a trade match for Dallas. It was just another high-profile story about a potential trade for Karlsson.

“I’ve always liked this group. Obviously, we haven’t gotten the most out of it. We haven’t played up to the potential that we believe we have in here,” the Penguins defenseman said. “And you know, that’s tough. But again, I love all the guys. I’ve had a good time here. And I’ll continue and do so until my time is over.”

Rookies, Growing Pains

The Penguins fanbase might be suffering from whiplash. On Saturday, the refrain was, “Play Joel Blomqvist, not Alex Nedeljkovic!”

On Sunday, the social media chatter was more akin to, “Send Blomqvist down!”

This is what’s called growing pains for the growth and maturation of a rookie, especially a goalie. Blomqvist was torched for six goals Sunday. A couple were breakaway goals, but a few more were entirely stoppable.

And one was partially his fault for a botched hand-off with defenseman Ryan Graves at just 2:15 of the first period.

It’s the third straight soft start by Blomqvist, and he’s struggled since being recalled in January. He was quite good in relief of Nedeljkovic Thursday in the Penguins comeback win over Philadelphia, but he’s posted just an .885 save percentage and is 1-2-1 since Feb. 8.

For the Penguins, it’s a balancing act of sticking with Blomqvist for future benefit and winning games.

“I wouldn’t say (our lineup decisions are) any different. We’re trying to win games. We have two goaltenders that we believe in,” said Sullivan. “Joel’s a young kid, and he’s trying to find his way and establish himself in this league. It’s a hard league, so we recognize that we’re going to go through some ups and downs and that he’s no different than any other young kid trying to enter the league. But he’s a very good goalie. We believe he has great potential moving forward.”