Penguins' struggles in back-to-backs continue as they fall to Jets, 7-1

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Going into their game against the Jets Sunday, the Penguins made a number of changes to try and reverse their trend of blowout losses in second legs of back-to-backs.

They had their No. 1 goalie between the pipes, and Mike Sullivan even juggled the lineup to try and inject some life into a struggling offense.

The result was just more of the same.

The Penguins lost to the Jets, 7-1. They are now 0-4-0 in the second halves of back-to-backs this season, outscored in those four games by a combined 29-7.

“It’s disappointing,” Sullivan said. “We talk about doing the right things, we talk about managing the puck right way, we talk about staying on the right side of people and then we go out and our actions are just the opposite. We turn the puck over a handful of times, we gave up some high-quality chances and they converted. It’s hard to win when you play that way.”

This time, there was no Antti Niemi to pin the troubles on. Niemi, waived earlier this week, struggled in those first three games, to be sure, but Sunday’s result indicated the problems might run deeper.

“I think we just made big mistakes, not small ones,” Sidney Crosby said. “Grade-A opportunities they got. Especially early on, sometimes you have to keep it a little more simple and allow yourself to get into the game a little bit. We didn’t do that and we haven’t done that in the games we’ve had trouble.”

The Penguins were sloppy with the puck in critical areas, notably around both blue lines. Defensemen pinched forward but didn’t get the puck, creating odd-man rushes the other way.

The Penguins’ superstars were among the worst offenders. Kris Letang was credited with five giveaways — four in the first period alone. Evgeni Malkin turned the puck over at the Penguins’ blue line to lead to Blake Wheeler’s second goal of the first period.

On the very first shift of the game, even, Sidney Crosby’s top line had three consecutive defensive-zone turnovers, allowing the Jets to capitalize on their tired legs as Andrew Copp scored the opening goal and set the tone for the night just 1:20 in.

“If I had the answer, I’d be doing it,” Sullivan said. “I think — I don’t think, I know that part of the answer is simplifying our thoughts and our actions out there. Playing straight ahead and putting pucks behind people. Getting in foot races and winning puck battles. It’s a lot of the thankless jobs that are really hard to do out there. I know that’s part of the solution.”

Matt Murray started the game in net for the Penguins, but didn’t make it out of the first period. He was pulled for Casey DeSmith after the Jets posted a 4-0 lead in the first 18:07.

Things didn’t get much better when DeSmith — making his NHL debut in less-than-ideal circumstances, to say the least — came on. Wheeler scored on the Jets’ first shot against DeSmith, giving Wheeler a hat trick before the first period was even over.

“You look at all those we get scored on early, and teams build on that,” Crosby said. “It’s not like we’re giving up one in the first, we’re giving up a bunch. In this case, five. We’ve been here before. We’ve got to find a way to fix it.”

It’s not like the Penguins’ offense — particularly at even-strength — was much better. When they finally did score Sunday night, it came once again on the power play, Malkin’s second man-advantage goal in as many nights.

The goal allowed the Penguins to avoid a shutout, but it likely didn’t do much to ease Sullivan’s concerns from Saturday night about his team’s 5-on-5 offense. With another goose egg in that category against the Jets, the Penguins now have just three 5-on-5 goals in their last six games.

They’ll now have two off days to try and correct the myriad of issues on the table.

“We just played four games in six nights, so from that standpoint it’ll be nice to get a rest,” Sullivan said. “Is it a good thing for us? I don’t know. We’ll see.”

When they do return, the Penguins have to dive right back into another back-to-back, with a game in Edmonton Wednesday and Calgary Thursday. If the results so far are any indication, the Flames should be licking their chops for a big night later this week.

The Penguins will just hope to see, well, something different than what they’ve seen so far in these games.

“We’ve been in this situation a number of times and nothing’s really changed,” Crosby said. “We’ve got to find a way to do that.”

Source: gazette