Penguins Room: Team ‘Lacked Urgency,’ More Crucial Mistakes Sink Pens

NEW YORK — Sidney Crosby willed the Pittsburgh Penguins back into the game. Twice he dominated play in the offensive zone, stealing pucks and overpowering defenders before setting up Rickard Rakell and Jake Guentzel for Penguins goals to tie the game. However, the Penguins never led, and those were the only Penguins goals in a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

The loss essentially ended the Penguins’ chances for third place in the Metro Division. They now trail the Rangers by 10 points with 14 games remaining.

Rangers fourth-liner Tyler Motte appeared to elbow Jeff Petry, who left the game early in the first period. The Penguins played most of the game with only five defensemen, and Kris Letang played nearly 29 minutes.

Coach Mike Sullivan said only that Petry was being evaluated for an upper-body injury.

Letang was a driving force, but New York stymied the Penguins at center ice and took advantage of many … many Penguins’ mistakes. New York had numerous odd-man rushes, especially in the first period.

With a struggling club playing shorthanded, Letang visibly raised the caliber of his game.

“I was just trying to get us back in the game and try to be active, trying to be in the rush to try to create plays. It’s tough because JP takes a lot of ice time,” Letang said. “He’s a really good two-way defenseman. He brings some offense. So sometimes when a guy goes down, you try to bring a little bit more, but I wish I could have some plays back that I would do something different, but it is what it is in a tight game.”

Letang seemed to smile a bit when we asked about playing so many minutes in back-to-back games, though he doesn’t want to make a habit of it. The Penguins had only four defensemen in the third period in the 6-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena, and Letang filled the void then, too.

“It’s good occasionally,” he said before expounding further.

KRIS LETANG:

MIKE SULLIVAN:

Coach Mike Sullivan bluntly said his team lacked urgency, especially early in the game. He also said his team lacked the “details” in their game, which gave New York a series of odd-man rushes and breakaways in the first period.

The Penguins were outchanced 13-5 in the first. Once New York earned the lead, multiple players admitted the Rangers controlled the game tactically.

The coach was unhappy with his team’s overall performance and shuffled the lines midway through the second period. Sullivan put Rickard Rakell back with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust with Evgeni Malkin, dropping Alex Nylander to the third line with Mikael Granlund.

“I thought as a team, we had our moments. I didn’t think we brought a level of urgency that we needed to early in the game,” Sullivan said. “I thought we gave up a few too many odd-man rushes, which just boils down to details. And so I just think we need to bring more urgency.”

Given the stakes on Thursday, that’s a stinging indictment, though Sullivan pushed back on whether it was concerning that his team lacked urgency.

RICKARD RAKELL:

Rakell had two points, including a goal, three shots, four hits, and several more chances. With Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang, Rakell was one of the Penguins’ bright spots in the loss.

“In our minds, we know that it will be games like this all the way to the end. We’re used to it,” Rakell said. “We feel like the last five, six-game have been like this, but we’ve just got to find a way because it’s the time of year. You’ve got to find a way to win these games.”