The Pittsburgh Penguins’ eight-game point streak ended with a 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. The defeat leaves the Penguins with a record of 6-1-2 over their last nine games.
Captain Sidney Crosby addressed the team’s performance against Winnipeg, noting the speed and transition game of their opponents. “They’re quick in transition and they’ve got a lot of speed,” Crosby said. “You’ve just got to make sure that the puck is in those gray areas. If you turn them over there, then they can make you pay pretty quick.”
Before the game, it was announced that forward Justin Brazeau would be out day-to-day due to an upper-body injury. Phil Tomasino replaced him on the second line, while Harrison Brunicke filled in for Matt Dumba.
The Jets scored twice within the first three minutes of play, setting the tone early. Winnipeg improved its season record to 9-3-0 after this win; last year, they won the Presidents’ Trophy with 116 points.
“You get down and you start chasing the game a little bit,” Crosby said about falling behind early. “It’s tough to fight that, but you’ve got to find a way to stay patient. We’ve got to understand that there is a lot of hockey left. Unfortunately, they got to build on that lead.”
During the second period, goaltender Arturs Silovs was penalized for throwing his stick at Kyle Connor during a breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot goal by Connor—his seventh season with at least 30 goals. Silovs commented on the play: “It’s kind of a misplay, he came in there so fast, I thought he was going to come in a little bit slower, so I didn’t have time to look up where he was. He got it barely over my glove, but credit to him.”
Crosby scored Pittsburgh’s first goal late in the second period during a power play against Winnipeg’s top-ranked penalty kill unit.
In the third period, Pittsburgh tried to rally as Blake Lizotte scored after crashing toward Jets goalie Eric Comrie and cutting Winnipeg’s lead in half. However, an empty-net goal by Winnipeg secured their victory.
Pittsburgh will conclude its four-game road trip with a visit to Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
“That’s a good team that we played. I feel like that it wasn’t our best,” Crosby said postgame. “We’ve got to respond and bounce back and make sure that we finish off the trip good.”
Defenseman Owen Pickering played his first NHL game in his hometown province of Manitoba before family and friends after being given starting honors by Head Coach Dan Muse. Pickering reflected: “It means a lot. It’s pretty cool, and it’s something that I’m super grateful for. It’ll be nice to have them there.”
Head Coach Dan Muse discussed areas for improvement following the loss:
“Definitely too many odd-man rushes, which really hurt us,” Muse said when asked what needed fixing after this game. He added: “Clearly, there’s way too much coming at us that way…when you give a team like that too much space, you’re not going to like the chances you’re giving up.”
On whether ending an eight-game point streak made this loss easier or harder: “Losing always stinks,” Muse said.”Anytime there’s an opportunity there to get points, and we don’t do it, you’re not going to be happy with it…Even the games that we’ve won, there’s been plenty that we can look back and say, this is an area that needs to improve…Obviously,a game like today there,I think we could have made that a lot closer than it ended up being.So that’s on us…”
Muse also credited his players for continuing effort throughout: “In the third period, there wasn’t a moment when I felt like we stopped playing.I think that guys kept going.Even on bench,…we were going get next one,but we didn’t.So,we go back,evaluate,and look at areas…There’s going be lot take away from this game too,and learn from.The fact stuck with it,I give credit guys…”
Regarding young defensemen Pickering and Brunicke,Muse noted lineup changes were intended for fresh perspective:”We mixed it up…Sometimes,…if you’re out there for couple quick ones,it’s not necessarily on individual.It’s just good give different feel.That’s what felt like tonight.Like all these games,…stuff team will look at,and stuff individuals can learn from as well.”
