Penguins Report Card: Sullivan, Letang Rip Team for Awful Performance

NEW YORK — The city may never sleep, but the Pittsburgh Penguins took a few catnaps in the first, second, and third periods. Brutal mistakes and turnovers gifted the New York Rangers at least six odd-man rushes and a breakaway in New York’s 4-2 win over the Penguins at Madison Square Garden.

The odd-man rush count was courtesy of Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, and he was probably on the light side … by a lot. The Penguins gifted New York three unabated chances in the first 10 minutes alone and traded odd-man rushes on multiple power plays in their abysmal performance.

Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was not in any mood to spin positive.

“There was nothing good to take from that game,” he told Pittsburgh Hockey Now in a disgusted tone.

Sullivan was not in a mood to spin to the positive, either, and despite fielding a few questions, spoke for just over a minute after the game. However, a minute was more than enough for Sullivan to slam every part of the Penguins game.

“Probably the worst game we’ve played in a month, maybe. Everything we talked about before the game, we did the complete opposite,” said Sullivan.

And the coach kept going.

“We talked about managing the points. We gave up six two-on-ones and a breakaway,” Sullivan’s admonishment continued. “We talked about bringing physicality to the game. We didn’t touch anybody. You know, it’s it’s it’s hard to win when you do things like that.”

Here’s Sullivan complete postgame comments:

Sullivan was correct and not exaggerating. The Penguins never mounted sustained offensive pressure, though they were able to hang in the game because of Nedeljkovic’s saves and goals from unlikely sources, Blake Lizotte and Philip Tomasino.

Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic was exceptional, stopping 22 of the first 24 shots, but more than a few of those were high-danger chances, including his scrambling save on Chris Kreider moments after the Penguins scored in the second period.

Even Nedeljkovic was unhappy with his performance (though he should not be). Rangers sniper Artemi Panarin scored a pair of goals, including one through defenseman Marcus Pettersson, with just 1.5 seconds remaining in the second period. Nedeljkovic was kicking himself for allowing the goal.

“Two pretty tough goals for me to give up there at the end of the second and third period,” Nedeljkovic said, referring to Panarin’s late goal and Reilly Smith’s game-winner that was the New York’s third shot on a two-on-one.

“(Panarin) is a good player, but I don’t think the second one was his best shot, to be honest with you. I wasn’t really on the puck, I was just a little bit on his body,” Nedeljkovic said. “If I make one more shuffle to my left, it probably gets me in the elbow. It’s not like it hit the post or anything, so that was a tough one to swallow, especially the timing.”

True. The turnovers were mindboggling, from Matt Grzelcyk’s ill-fated between-the-legs pass at the blue line that became a Smith’s breakaway in the first period to some whoppers by almost everyone else.

In short, the Penguins were sloppy to the point of unprofessional, soft, and generally playing some stupid hockey. Otherwise, they were just fine.

Penguins Xs and Os

New York had success with a flyer out of the zone—right up the middle of the ice. The Penguins’ defensemen were slow to recognize the “too quick” transition, leading to a few unearned odd-man rushes.

Of course, New York is a very good transition team that didn’t need any help, but the Penguins gave it by the truckload anyway.

“They’re a team that thrives off (transition), but I think (odd-man rushes) were a little more self-inflicted,” Bryan Rust said.

The Penguins’ offense was largely centered around working the net area, not necessarily the net front, but working from the wall toward the net, looking for tip play. It seemed like the Penguins were intimidated by Igor Shesterkin in net and lacked the confidence to challenge him straight up- except for Blake Lizotte, who charged the slot a couple of times and scored once.

Lizotte should not be the primary offensive driver, but the Penguins’ third line, with Drew O’Connor and Michael Bunting, was the best.

Penguins Report Card

Team: F

I was prepared to give them a D, but the locker room sentiment was so overwhelmingly self-immolating that I would not disagree. I believed the unfocused errors were centered on a few players, but it spread. Sullivan’s slapdown spoke volumes, too.

No one dragged the Penguins into the fight.

Matt Grzelcyk: F

That was a rough go. Defensemen sometimes complain off the record that only their mistakes are highlighted, and that is true. However, Grzelcyk made some whoppers on Friday. On a bad night for everyone, he stood out with a silly turnover and a terrible angle on a puck that created a two-on-one (and enough time for three shots) for New York’s game-winner.

Owen Pickering: C+

It was noticeable that the game was starting to get away from him. He made a couple of mistakes, including a bad turnover in the third period that gifted New York the puck in the slot. Ryan Shea bailed him out moments before taking a delay of game penalty. However, Pickering’s reaction looked like a kid who was defeated, not an angry, resilient response.

Pickering made several good defensive plays. There was plenty for him to like on Friday. He cannot be so hard on himself. He’ll need to get over that in the NHL, or it will lead to more mistakes, not fewer.

Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin: Missing

By Crosby and Malkin standards, they’ve been quiet recently. The old guard was entirely unnoticeable for much of Friday.

Blake Lizotte: A?

It’s hard to grade anyone with an A in such a sloppy game, but maybe he deserved it. His goal was a big-time snipe, and he almost had another. He gets after the puck like a few others, and he’s showing more offense than anyone thought he possessed. Five goals in 12 games is pretty, pretty good.