PITTSBURGH — Marcus Pettersson called out “the elephant in the room” for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
“The blown leads,” he said. “We know it’s a problem.”
It is. It was again.
But for a change, a blown multi-goal lead by the Penguins wasn’t costly. That’s because Alex Nedeljkovic made Evgeni Malkin’s fifth-round shootout score stand up for a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins never should have needed to play beyond regulation. They were up 3-0, early in the second period after captain Sidney Crosby’s 599th career goal.
Milestone watch 👀
Sidney Crosby is now just one goal short of 600! pic.twitter.com/ldWFK2LDWh
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 17, 2024
Of course, anybody paying attention to the Penguins this season had to know what could happen next. So nobody was surprised when the Sharks rallied.
That’s what opponents do against the Penguins, who are 5-3-1 when going ahead by multiple goals.
A .611 points percentage when up by two or more goals is not a flex for a veteran-laden team. Though no club goes undefeated in such games, conceding points in those situations is how a club finds itself fighting for its postseason life before Thanksgiving.
The Penguins are in that kind of fight.
Pettersson acknowledged all those lost points have weighed on players. A loss, even in the shootout, would have made for a dubious ending to a lousy week.
“But we didn’t lose,” Pettersson said.
They did not, which is a bigger deal than it should be considering the Sharks were the NHL’s worst team a year ago and again appear headed for the draft lottery. Losing to San Jose a night after being humiliated in Columbus by the Blue Jackets would have had a lot of people outside the organization expecting a response-move by president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas.
Some takeaways from this result:
The kids were all right
Coach Mike Sullivan is under the microscope. That’s fair given he’s presided over two consecutive seasons without a playoff berth and the Penguins were 3-8-3 following a 3-2-0 start to the season.
There is a perception that Sullivan does not trust younger players. That presumes the Penguins have had an abundance of quality younger players in recent seasons.
They haven’t.
They have at least some in the pipeline, and Sullivan turned to two of them on Saturday night.
Forward Vasily Ponomarev, a standout among prospects in training camp, looked good despite not playing his natural position (center) on a fourth line. He was given 11 shifts and was noticeable on almost each one — hunting pucks and bringing an edge that has been sorely missing from the Penguins in recent seasons.
On any other night, Ponomarev’s debut would have stood out. He was overshadowed by former first-round pick Owen Pickering, a defenseman who assisted on Bryan Rust’s opening goal.
Pickering did not look out of place on the third pairing with Ryan Shea. He looked like the Penguins’ best defenseman, and his block on a later penalty kill was exactly what teammates and coaches want to see from a rookie.
NHL debut ✔️
First career point ✔️
Huge block on the penalty kill ✔️
Player of the game helmet ✔️ pic.twitter.com/qzbPHPtGHj— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 17, 2024
Message sent
There’s no way around it, veteran Ryan Graves was a healthy scratch against the Sharks.
One of three big-ticket acquisitions by Dubas during the 2023 offseason, Graves has not lived up to expectations. Neither has Erik Karlsson, and Reilly Smith was such a bad fit that Dubas shipped him to a divisional foe this past summer.
It’s too early to tell if Graves will remain on the outs. Certainly, not dressing a $4.5 million defenseman is problematic in a hard-cap system.
Still, something had to give — and Sullivan wouldn’t have scratched Graves if Dubas wasn’t on board with the decision.
If nothing else, scratching Graves sends a message that being a veteran with a long-term contract doesn’t guarantee a player a spot in the lineup. That is probably a necessary message to send given how uninspiring the Penguins have looked at times during this slogging start to the season.
What was that?
Michael Bunting’s brief tenure in Pittsburgh has proven frustrating.
When he’s on his game, he’s brought a net-front presence the Penguins have lacked since the days of Patric Hornqvist. He’s gone on some heaters as a goal-scorer, too.
He’s also been a non-factor far too often.
Consistency is what the Penguins need from Bunting.
Smarter decisions wouldn’t hurt, either.
Malkin turned back the clock to score what should have been the Penguins’ second goal in the first period. He carried the puck through the neutral zone, changed pace, deked through and weaved around a trio of Sharks players, then fired a backhanded shot through the short side of goalie Vitek Vanecek.
The goal electrified a near-capacity crowd. It also energized Malkin, who had only a goal and an assist in his previous five games.
The Sharks challenged for offside — and for good reason.
Bunting was way off. Like, it wasn’t close.
It might seem like a small thing to bring up in a win, but it’s emblematic of an issue with awareness that has plagued the Penguins in this and recent seasons. Whether not recognizing the situation there or not playing responsibly with leads, too many players on this roster are too often lackadaisical — to the point of being irresponsible.
And that’s why this team, despite Crosby and Malkin each averaging just a tick under a point-per-game in their late 30s, hasn’t been able to elevate the Penguins this season. They simply aren’t getting enough from almost everybody else.
(Photo: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)