Penguins Wrap: A Wasted Week, Veterans Under Fire

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the six-day period that concluded Saturday on a roll.

They ended it flat on their backs.

They lost all three games they played during the past six days, and often looked bad doing it.

Consequently, the Penguins enter this week with a tenuous, at best, hold on the final wild-card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference — and virtually no margin for error in the 13 regular-season games that remain.

A look back at the Penguins’ disastrous, disheartening past half-dozen days:

Monday

How did the Penguins get on a 7-1-1 roll? Tristan Jarry offers his opinion.

Things have been falling into place for the Penguins lately, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have some issues and problems.

Sidney Crosby is honored as the NHL’s No. 2 star of the week.

Tuesday

The Penguins won the game, on paper, but lost it on the ice to Montreal, 6-4, at PPG Paints Arena. (+)

Jason Zucker says the Penguins have “no answers” for why they squandered an opportunity to pick up two points against Montreal.

The Penguins allow an early 2-0 lead to mutate into a loss to one of the NHL’s bottom-feeders.

Turns out Mike Sullivan probably doesn’t hate young players, after all. Who knew?

Sullivan announces that defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is “week-to-week” because of an unspecified lower-body injury.

Wednesday

The Penguins need to have No. 1 goalie Tristan Jarry get his game in order, and to do it quickly.

The Penguins place defensemen Dmitry Kulikov, who was acquired from Anaheim at the trade deadline, on the Long-Term Injured list.

Penguins prospect Sam Poulin announces on Instagram that he’s returning to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after a three-month hiatus taken for mental health reasons.

Thursday

The stakes in their game against the Rangers were quite high, at least for the Penguins, but Mike Sullivan says his team’s urgency level wasn’t, during the early stages of what became a 4-2 loss.

Losing to the Rangers snuffed whatever hope the Penguins had of overtaking them for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

You’ll find more answers in this Q&A than the Penguins had in the game at Madison Square Garden.

The Pittsburgh Penguins get some good news: Defensemen Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta, both injured during the Montreal game, are well enough to play against the Rangers. So is forward Ryan Poehling, who had been out since being hurt Feb. 11.

Friday

Penguins fans seem to be more apathetic than upset about the team’s struggles, and that should concern ownership.

Kris Letang is excused from practice in New York while Jeff Petry misses it, as an injury he got in the Rangers game continues to be evaluated.

Saturday

Jeff Carter and Brian Dumoulin have struggled mightily for much of the season, and both made critical errors during a humbling 6-0 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, but Mike Sullivan declines to criticize either of them after the game.

Think that loss to the Canadiens was bad? The Penguins find a way to top it in the 6-0 defeat by the Rangers.

The time has come for Mike Sullivan to drop Jeff Carter from his lineup.

The Penguins recall Mark Friedman from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis and place Nick Bonino on the Long-Term Injured list.

Here’s how the Florida Panthers pulled to within point of the Penguins in the wild-card race.

The New York Islanders broke out of a tie with the Penguins by virtue of a 4-1 victory in San Jose.