As bizarre as the Penguins’ choking streak may be, and wholly inexcusable, it may provide clarity to an oft-debated situation:
This is not a team capable of making the playoffs, let alone a playoff run, and president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas should proceed accordingly.
If that means stripping the team of aging assets to move forward, so be it. (You know the names. Some are movable. Some aren’t.)
That wouldn’t be popular in the dressing room, but constantly blowing leads surely isn’t building popularity among the paying public. It’s like campaigning against ticket sales.
The latest installment, losing 5-4 in overtime to Utah on Sunday after leading 3-0 entering the third period, had the announced crowd of 15,686 booing with a venom rarely heard at PPG Paints Arena.
You’d think they’d be used to it.
After blowing a 5-1 third-period lead Saturday at home vs. San Jose, losing 6-5 in OT.
After conceding the tying goal with 0.1 second left against visiting Anaheim on Tuesday, then losing 4-3 in a shootout.
It’s been a house of horrors, not home-ice advantage.
But the Penguins will likely maintain their roster for the time being.
There’s too much pressure to keep the team competitive for Sidney Crosby’s sake.
The Penguins are only one point out of a playoff spot in a tragically bad Eastern Conference and have at least one game in hand on every team they trail but one. They’re just four points out of second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Incredibly, the Penguins have the fewest regulation losses in the Eastern Conference, just eight after 31 games. They also have the most overtime/shootout losses, nine, and are 1-9 in such situations. Playoff hopes can’t be sustained on a steady diet of loser points. (Unless they can be.)
Right now, the Penguins will search for fixes.
Firing the coach isn’t one of them.
Dan Muse isn’t blameless in this run of tragedy. He’s made terrible late-game decisions, like mixing and matching defense tandems to go righty-righty or lefty-lefty or, most inexplicably, pairing Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang, two offensive defensemen who don’t like to simplify even if the situation dictates.
Muse also trusts veterans too much, using the jabroni line of Kevin Hayes, Noel Acciari and Connor Dewar in big situations. It’s like Mike Sullivan never left.
But Muse isn’t on the ice. It’s the players who are losing their nerve. And sometimes their minds.
Karlsson has been most complicit, netting an own goal to tie the game vs. Anaheim, then taking a broken-stick penalty to give San Jose a 5-on-3 power-play that ignited that comeback. How does a 17-year NHL veteran not immediately recognize the changed weight of a broken stick?
The goaltending has been brutal.
Arturs Silovs allowed four goals in 10:49 of the third period vs. San Jose, then lost in overtime.
Sergei Murashov conceded four times in 7:06 of the third period against Utah, then a soft one in OT.
When you allow that many goals in a narrow time frame, it doesn’t matter if you’re alone out there and the opposition has a machine gun. Make a save.
After the loss to Utah, an ex-Penguin commented that the current team is breaking in several kids.
But it’s not the kids. They’re mostly fine. It’s below-the-line veterans being too slow, and stars that can’t maintain their grip. Staying on the ice too long. Lurking for empty-net goals, not protecting leads.
The Penguins never change how they play based on score and situation. Attack, attack, attack. Even the bummy players. Another holdover from the Sullivan era.
Not sure what’s being said in the dressing room. Crosby was talking about breaks and bounces after Sunday’s loss. That’s absurd. Perhaps different gets said when the media isn’t in the room.
Here’s hoping. Because this is unacceptable. It’s horse manure. That needs to be said. At a high volume. These go to 11.
Choking is in the Penguins’ DNA now.
The Penguins will flinch whenever they lead in the third period. That was certainly the case Saturday and Sunday.
Tuesday night won’t be any easier when Edmonton visits PPG Paints Arena.
Maybe the Penguins will gather their resolve.
Or maybe Tristan Jarry shuts them out and Connor McDavid gets seven points.