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Penguins Takeaways: Volatility, Carryover & Sam Poulin in Loss to Flames

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CALGARY, Alberta — It was not the Pittsburgh Penguins’ best effort. One day after getting shelled by the Edmonton Oilers, the Penguins were quickly put away by the Calgary Flames. The Penguins trailed 3-0 by the early second period and never challenged, though they fired 21 shots in the second period.

The Penguins lost, 4-1, to the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The second-period shot total was the highlight of the Penguins’ night, but they were again overwhelmed in the third period.

The Penguins lacked urgency in the final 20 minutes. Things had been decided again.

At least it wasn’t as bad as Monday.

“I think we had a great start. But tonight, we knew (Calgary) was going to push hard — and it should have been expected,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “We should have played the simple game. We got behind, and in this league, it’s tough against a team like this. It’s tough to come back.”

They faltered in all three zones. In all phases. And they were outplayed again.

Pittsburgh Penguins Line Shuffles & Edmonton Hangover

Injuries forced Penguins coach Mike Sullivan to shuffle the lines. LW Jason Zucker was unavailable after suffering an injury against Edmonton on Monday. To insert Poulin, a center, into the lineup, Sullivan elevated Bryan Rust to Sidney Crosby’s left win, Jeff Carter to Evgeni Malkin’s right wing, and Poulin took the third-line pivot.

Three lines. Three big changes.

Zero results.

“Obviously, we didn’t like the way we started. It was kind of a carryover from the last game, but I really like the response after that,” said Sullivan. “I thought the second period, we turned the tide a little bit. We had a lot of chances. We get outscored in the period. That’s the irony of it. But I thought in the second period, we were the better team.

“There are some encouraging signs, (but) our expectations are much higher.”

The Penguins’ lines were not a reason for poor play, but the new lines didn’t help the mistakes and chaos.

What is Going Wrong?  

The Penguins aren’t on their toes. Their edge and crisp attacks have become high-risk passes and overconfident rushes. The Penguins aren’t that much better than teams (no team is in the salary-cap era) to play “Globetrotters” hockey, yet the Penguins may have been a little spoiled by the four wins, in each of which they scored six goals.

Forwards aren’t covering for defensemen. Defensemen are getting overly aggressive.

And the team has been prone to defensive-zone gaffes, like three players converging below the goal line without any net-front coverage on the first Calgary goal.

Or four wide at the offensive blue line when Sam Poulin tried to stickhandle through defenders and turned it over for the second Calgary goal.

After a couple of breakdowns, the bad bounces are magnified — such as two goals through heavy traffic.

“This year, we’ve had volatility in our game. Even within games, period-to-period. In some periods, we look really good. Some period, it’s a struggle,” Sullivan said. “Just the volatility is something — we’ve got to do a better job of bringing more consistency. And I think a lot of that involves controlling the momentum and simplifying the game.”

Sam Poulin

Poulin earned his first NHL point, and all seemed pleased with his effort.

“I thought Sam played well. He brought us a lot of energy. Obviously, your first NHL game, you never forget those experiences,” Sullivan said. “That’s a big deal. We’re just really encouraged by how far he’s come and how this game is evolving. He’s earned the opportunity.”

However, Poulin’s turnover led to the second goal and was a bad decision. He got caught playing “Penguins” hockey instead of simple hockey.

He also took a bad slashing penalty which led to Jonathan Huberdeau’s power-play goal early in the second. That was probably the back-breaking goal. The Penguin outplayed Calgary in the middle frame, but with a 3-0 lead, Calgary could trade possession for a defensive position, which it did.

Still, the Penguins finally had a first-round pick make it to the show, and he had a few scoring chances, too. He’ll get better. He wasn’t out of place.

“Yes, it’s really crazy. I learned that afternoon, actually, at the meeting. It was probably 12 when I learned that, so it was a quick turn of events, but I was glad to be here for my first game,” Poulin said.

He immediately called his family, who had to race to Ottawa for a flight to be in attendance. They made it for Sam Poulin’s Pittsburgh Penguins debut.

So, too, did WWE star Brett “the Hitman” Hart, who walked past the Poulin family sharing a moment.