Penguins in Denial after More Bad Losses; Where’s the Outrage?

NEW YORK — After an ugly loss to the Montreal Canadiens and a pair to the New York Rangers, including the 6-0 embarrassment Saturday, Madison Square Garden feels like the burial site for the 2022-23 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Given the relative age of the roster, perhaps we shouldn’t make such references.

After months of the right words, the wheels again came off the cart Saturday. After 69 games, the same mistakes made by the same players and the same shortcomings are no longer correctable but a characteristic of the team.

The Penguins have lost three in a row, while the Florida Panthers have won five of six and comfortably rest just one point behind the Penguins for a playoff spot. The New York Islanders beat the San Jose Sharks Saturday to move ahead for the first wild card.

Everything seems to be crashing down around the Penguins, who don’t seem to want to admit it is by their own hand. The reason they’re in trouble in the playoff race is because of their own continued mistakes.

If the mistakes and shortcomings were fixable, a pair of games against the New York Rangers with a chance to get in the race for third place would have been the place for their best.

Instead, they showed their worst.

“Lack of urgency” characterized the Thursday loss.

Getting blown out characterized the Saturday loss.

“I don’t think you’ll look at tonight as an example of how we played lately. We’ve played pretty good hockey lately. Tonight obviously was tough, you know, we weren’t good, and it showed up on the scoreboard,” said Sidney Crosby. “We’ve just got to move by it. But for the most part, we’ve done some pretty good things, but we’ve got to find a way to limit our mistakes.”

For the record, the Penguins have lost three in a row. The 7-2-1 stretch to which Crosby referred has been buffered by mediocrity and losses.

Where is the team’s outrage or anger after three more losses?

They again flatlined against a Metro Division opponent, were again embarrassed, and the season is slipping away. The Penguins have just two wins against the four teams ahead of them in the Metro Division, and both were against the Rangers. The Penguins have zero wins against the Carolina Hurricanes (0-2-2), New Jersey Devils (0-2-1), and New York Islanders (0-3-1).

One might see their record against the top teams in the Metro Division and assume the top teams are better.

GM Ron Hextall did not.

Featured NHL trade deadline acquisition Mikael Granlund has been an upgrade on the Penguins’ previously awful third line but not terribly effective or impactful. Granlund has two points in eight games and only 16 attempted shots.

Who is going to stand up and say they’re mad as hell and not going to take it anymore? Who will make a difference on the ice? Or does the locker room think they have no choice but to accept their coming disappointment?

Are we seeing acceptance?

“Tonight was a humbling experience for all of us. These guys that put the uniform on, they’re proud guys, and they care a lot about what’s going on here,” Sullivan said. “Nobody feels it more than the players themselves and the coaching staff. But I also believe in this group, and we believe we have what it takes.”

The belief is supported only by history, certainly not by any evidence accrued this season.

It is no longer out of bounds to question this team’s heart. They wilted in two games against the Rangers. Opportunities like that have come and gone for the last month, only to be treated with near disdain by this team and tossed like rotten fish. There have been as many jaw-dropping losses as wins.

It is one thing to fight for a win but lose. It’s another to lose in soft or sad ways continually.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 34-25-10, which means they have lost 35 games this season. By NHL math, they’re above .500, but the lack of regulation wins (25) also puts them at a disadvantage in any playoff tiebreaker.

Saturday, they had a promising start with energy and intensity. The Penguins outchanced the New York Rangers 15-5 in the first period, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

And yet they trailed 2-0 because Jeff Carter lost his coverage on Mika Zbinejad, who scored. Evgeni Malkin took a bad penalty in the final minute of the first period. And Brian Dumoulin failed to clear an easy puck leading to an open snipe by Artemi Panarin in the final 11 seconds of the period.

It’s a bad script that has been recycled more often than the same eight pages of dialogue in the Fast and Furious franchise. Except the Penguins are no longer fast or furious.

Contrary to coach Mike Sullivan’s vigorous defense of Carter and Dumoulin, the pair have worn the goals-against over the last couple of weeks. They’re not just on the ice but prime suspects.

Goalie Tristan Jarry has been pulled three times in his last six games, in large part because the team has hung him out to dry, but in smaller part, because he’s not making any of the saves, either.

Saturday, the Penguins buckled. They pressed. They had no answers. New York counter-attacked and soon led 6-0.

“Everything went wrong. This wasn’t our night,” said Jason Zucker before making a vow. “We believe in ourselves. This was not our night. We’ll be better on Monday.”

Two weeks ago, the Penguins rallied from 4-0 to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 in OT. In the merriment over the comeback, too few asked — How in the world did they fall behind 4-0 to the lowly Blue Jackets.

That night, Zucker said the team doesn’t “really have a guy who will break sticks.”

Well, somebody has to do something.

Break sticks.

Tables.

TVs.

Something.

Anything.

The maddening, inconsistent team is swooning at the worst time, and no one seems to be able to do anything about it. Crosby is putting up the points and has achieved his 18th season with a point-per-game average or better. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are having solid seasons, too.

No one else is having a career year, and few others beyond Zucker are raising their game to support the core.

Eventually, a team’s record does define them. Performances and responses define them. Yet rather than own it and address it, denial seems to be more prevalent.

Saturday night, the players cleared out of the locker room with alarming speed. By the time Crosby’s two-minute media availability ended, all but one other player was gone.

It’s all going wrong. Yet if there is any outrage, the Penguins are hiding it. If there is anger, it is not visible. If there is any hope, it is fading.

These Pittsburgh Penguins are in trouble.