Penguins Grades: ‘A Bad Point,’ Players Salty, Coach Angry

RALEIGH, N.C. — Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic smashed his stick near the locker room after the game. The remnants lay in the hallway like a sacrifice to the frustration of another tough loss against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Penguins were not a happy group following their 4-3 overtime loss to Carolina Sunday at Lenovo Center.

The final shot tally from the first period was 9-5 Carolina, which attempted a healthy 30 shots. However, the Penguins outplayed them and had a 2-0 lead. The table was set to finally win a game in Raleigh, but the Penguins were run over in the second period, and coach Mike Sullivan wasn’t thrilled with their performance in the third period, either.

The game was yet another irritating loss in Raleigh, where the team hasn’t won since Dec. 20, 2018. Erik Karlsson called it a bad point, Nedeljkovic said the team gave away the game, Kevin Hayes was curt despite scoring a goal and generating other chances, and Sullivan didn’t hold back.

The Penguins coach eviscerated his team’s performance.

“We just got out-competed. They raised their level, and we didn’t push back,” Sullivan said tersely. “We got out-competed. We didn’t win puck battles. Our D would pinch on the walls, and we’d lose that battle. Their D would pinch on the walls and keep pucks alive. You’ve got to win the walls.”

The overtime loss kept the Penguins at hockey .500, but they’ve won just one of their last five games (1-2-2) despite being within reach of a playoff seed.

As one rival team executive remarked to PHN about the Eastern Conference race, “No one wants it, eh?”

The Penguins’ back-to-back loser points put them in the second wild-card spot by one point over the Ottawa Senators, but Ottawa has three games in hand.

Make no mistake, the Penguins felt like they gave away the game. After an energetic first period in which they were on top of Carolina, they succumbed to Carolina for most of the next 40 minutes. Nedeljkovic took the blame, but that wasn’t on him.

“You know, we haven’t really done that in a while, blow a lead like that. So it’s tough,” Nedeljkovic said. “I think you’d like another save or two there in the second period to bail them out but I got beat three times, clean, high. So, it’s a tough one to swallow.”

Penguins Xs and Os

There isn’t a secret to playing Carolina. They play a modified man-to-man defense and make their opponents work for 200 feet. In the first period, the Penguins did well to blunt Carolina’s attack just inside the blue line, then counterattack.

The counterattack led to a three-on-one, which Keven Hayes buried less than four minutes into the first period. It also created some speedy rushes for the top line.

And then the Penguins inexplicably stopped doing so many of the things that earned them a 2-0 lead. Carolina attacked, but the Penguins did little to wrestle momentum away. They had no physicality, no determination. They remained in a funk until Erik Karlsson’s tying goal early in the third period got them back to even.

“The second period was pretty tough. I think they played in our end the whole time. I don’t think we were on top of them, on top of our toes. We gave them a few too many good looks,” said Nedeljkovic. “They got some good guys over there that can put the puck in the back of the net, and they did that tonight. We haven’t been (giving up leads) lately.”

The Penguins’ power play, which has been a life raft on some nights, was a non-factor Sunday. They were 0-for-3 with only three shots. Carolina was only given credit for one shorthanded shot, but it surely seemed like several. Sullivan wasn’t pleased with the man advantage, either.

Essentially, Sullivan hated everything about the power play Sunday.

“Execution, speed, tempo (weren’t good enough),” said Sullivan with a disgusted shrug. “I think it was a microcosm of our overall game, though we had a great start. We have a great first period. I thought after that we were ordinary.”

Penguins Grades

Team: C-

They had Carolina. For the first time in memory, they were on top of the Carolina attack, exploiting Carolina’s tight defensive system with trailing defensemen and hard defense of their own.

They did it for a period, and sometimes in the third, but doing more of it seemed a task for which they had no interest. The team had only 19 shots, and only Sidney Crosby had more than two.

Kevin Hayes: A

He had his best game as a Penguins player by a large margin. Not only did he defend well, including the transition for the Penguins’ first goal, but he made a similar play that resulted in his third-period breakaway.

Evgeni Malkin: F

The stat sheet wasn’t kind. Malkin didn’t attempt a shot. However, he gets an F because PHN noted him gliding around the ice on more than one occasion. Jordan Staal defended him well, and Malkin gave up.

Erik Karlsson: B?

A couple of great plays and at least one soft defensive play that resulted in a Carolina goal. We’ll repeat the 2025 Penguins’ corollary: As Karlsson goes, so go the Penguins.

Alex Nedeljkovic: B-

He wasn’t happy, but Carolina made him work. They sniped three glove-high shots but none of those shots were contested. If any team gives Seth Jarvis that time and space, he’s going to score.

Cody Glass: F

Cody Glass has been pressed into service beside Malkin on the second line, but it’s clearly not working well. Glass didn’t have a shot on goal either and had only two attempts. He was confined to the perimeter against Carolina–Malkin needed more help and he didn’t get it. Second-line RW probably isn’t the optimal spot for Glass, but the Penguins roster is what it is.

Mike Sullivan: C

There have been similar games this season in which Sulivan has started pressing buttons during a bad game. Perhaps he, too, expected the Penguins to awake from their second-period funk. But the Penguins needed a little shake.