It wouldn’t be fair to suggest goaltending was the primary reason the Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Boston Bruins on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.
In fact, it’s probably pretty accurate to say Alex Nedeljkovic — who stopped 23 of 25 shots — offered his team the cliched “chance to win.”
But those chances were limited Saturday when the Penguins allowed the opposition to score a goal on its first shot of the contest for the 13th time this season and the third consecutive game.
If the 2024-25 Penguins have any kind of identity, it’s that they don’t waste time in giving up goals.
Nedeljkovic has allowed five of those “first-shot” goals, including the past three games. His backup, rookie Joel Blomqvist, had yielded two such scores.
Tristan Jarry, largely exiled to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League since mid-January, is still the clubhouse leader with six.
To be certain, these goals happen through all sorts of avenues. On Saturday, Bruins All-Star forward David Pastrnak scored on a dazzling breakaway.
Two nights earlier, during a 5-4 overtime home win against the Philadelphia Flyers, Nedeljkovic was beaten by forward Noah Cates on wrister through a three-body screen that glanced off a skate.
There isn’t a regular method to how the Penguins’ opponents are doing this. But it’s obscenely frequent.
“They all happen different ways,” said Nedeljkovic, whose record slipped to 12-12-5. “For a majority of them, it’s just about starting on time, for everybody. Some things are preventable. Some things, they just happen and that’s hockey. Shots are going to go in, get deflected, go off guys or we’re going to have bad bounces, pucks go over sticks or whatever it is. They end up with good looks. I think we need to find a better way of starting on time, playing with a little more emotion from the get-go and I don’t think you’ll see those types of things happen.
“For myself too, it doesn’t matter if it’s a breakaway or whatever the shot or situation is. I’ve got to be ready for anything. That’s my job.”
Adding to the Penguins’ woes was defenseman P.O Joseph suffering an undisclosed injury. He did not record a shift beyond the 13-minute, 5-second mark of the first period after absorbing a hit by Bruins forward Mark Kastelic. There was no substantive word on Joseph’s status following the game.
Presumably, Kastelic was attempting to extract a measure of revenge for a hit by Joseph that forced Bruins All-Star forward Brad Marchand to leave the game at 5:56 of the first period with an undisclosed ailment.
After Pastrnak produced his 32nd goal 92 seconds into regulation, Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei scored his fourth goal during a power-play sequence at 6:33 of the first period.
Following a mostly lifeless middle period, Nedeljkovic stopped Pastrnak on a penalty shot 3:38 into the third frame. Then, at 14:01 of the third, Penguins forward Anthony Beauvillier scored his 13th goal during a short-handed sequence.
Bruins forward Charlie Coyle’s 14th goal on an empty net while short-handed at 19:19 proved to be the winning score after Penguins forward Rickard Rakell scored his team-leading 26th goal during a power-play opportunity with Nedeljkovic still pulled for an extra attacker only 19 seconds later.
“It was a close game, but it wasn’t good enough from myself or this group,” said Penguins forward Kevin Hayes, who set up Beauvillier’s goal. “A pretty vanilla game. Low energy. In order to enjoy ourselves these last couple of months, we’ve got to bring energy to the rink every single night. … You’ve got to start with energy first.”
Starting without a goal on the opponent’s first shot would aid that pursuit.
“With smarter play, more purposeful play, we don’t give up those types of opportunities,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “The common theme is we need more purposeful play so we’re harder to play against.”