Penguins Report Card: What Were They Thinking? It’s Almost Over

SEATTLE — The Seattle Kraken beat the Penguins for the second time in 11 days. While a loss to a sub .500 team might sting, the mind-numbing defensive blunders that gifted Seattle the game stuck in the Penguins craw.

They should have. An experienced team shouldn’t make more rookie mistakes than a team full of rookies, yet after 51 games, this is, and these are the Penguins.

There can be no more hope things will change unless actual changes are made.

The Penguins’ playoff chances were already on life support. The NHL trade market began moving Friday with the blockbuster Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes trade. If the Penguins were to stay together, they needed to show general manager Kyle Dubas they were worthy, but that mission is increasingly a failure.

With the opportunity in hand, they folded on the five-game homestand, and they’re folding on the following road trip that was likely their last chance.

The reality probably landed like an anvil Saturday.

The Penguins are now at least seven points out of a playoff spot because the Columbus Blue Jackets won on Saturday. Columbus also has a game in hand. The Penguins have 30 games remaining, and there are six teams between them and the postseason.

Do the math. It ain’t pretty. The Penguins would need to earn two-thirds of the remaining points and hope the other six teams involved in the race don’t get more than half.

The odds are less than 5%, according to MoneyPuck.

Penguins Game Analysis

Drew O’Connor had several high-danger chances. Even he didn’t know how one of them didn’t go in, but his chances, as well as Kevin Hayes earning a couple of good looks at Seattle goalie Joey Daccord, weren’t nearly enough to erase the horrendous team-wide defensive work.

“We kind of gave that to them,” said O’Connor.

On the advanced analytics front, the numbers were quite exaggerated. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Penguins out-chanced Seattle with high-danger chances 16-1.

Those high-danger chances apparently don’t count Seattle getting a two-on-none after a Sidney Crosby turnover, allowing Eli Tolvanen a breakaway shortly after a second-period power play, Kris Letang’s careless play at the offensive blue line leading to a three-on-two for San Jose’s first goal, Michael Bunting and Erik Karlsson huddling in the corner while Matt Grzelcyk drifted to the goal line rather than covering Tolvanen in the low slot for the third goal, or Karlsson’s rotten turnover springing Seattle’s two-on-0ne for the fourth goal.

So take the analytics in the game with a shaker of salt and a dose of incredulity.

The only statistic that might have been authentically so lopsided would be mistakes. Coach Mike Sullivan was exasperated following the game.

“Yeah, it’s really frustrating. Because I thought for the majority of the game, we carried the play. But you can’t hand teams easy offense like we did. When you look at the goals that they scored,  it’s just too easy. It’s just too easy. Obviously, it makes it hard to win when you do that.”

Sure, the Penguins came back from nine points behind last March, but that was a furious run, and it came up short. After a 1-3-1 homestand, the Penguins are 2-3-0 on the road trip; just like the homestand, they’ve lost to mediocre teams and beat the best teams.

Go figure.

Once again, the depth players had scoring chances, but those high-danger shots were gobbled up by Daccord.

The team is 2-14-2 when Sidney Crosby doesn’t score.

Edit: When he does score, as he did Saturday, increasingly, it’s still not enough as others struggle to finish.

Even Crosby is scuffling right now, which puts the Penguins squarely in the path of a debilitating storm of mediocrity. The past cannot save them, and the future is too far away.

Perhaps 51 games is enough time to say the team is inconsistent, lacks any defensive conscience, and depth scoring. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

Penguins Report Card

Team: F

The defensemen were mistake-prone. The top two lines, even as Sullivan had to shuffle them due to Evgeni Malkin’s first-period injury, were just plain bad. The only Penguins’ line that generated real chances with any consistency was O’Connor, Hayes, and Philip Tomasino.

After a few dozen games like this in which the Penguins giftwrap goals and dropkick their own best interests, we’re out of adjectives. It’s simply an unpleasant reality.

Drew O’Connor, Kevin Hayes: B+

I really liked their game. Everything but putting the puck across the line. Of course, with several glorious chances, they have to net one. O’Connor used his speed effectively and his size well to be around the net. Hayes made a few pretty passes and also had a couple of chances near the net.

“Two games in a row where I felt like we deserved a better outcome. We’re giving up easy offense and a lot of mistakes are ending up in the back of the net,” Hayes said. “And we’re not scoring on our chances, too. Everyone’s working hard. Everyone in this room wants to win. It’s frustrating, these last couple of losses that we’ve had. We felt like we’ve been playing good enough to win, and we haven’t. So, we got to start winning.”