After the Penguins’ 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night, goaltender Stuart Skinner channeled the musical “Annie.”
“When the sun comes up tomorrow, it’s a new day. A new opportunity for us to get better and become tighter as a group,” Skinner said after the Pens fell behind 2-0 in their first-round playoff series.
Well, let’s hope Daddy Warbucks is going to show up in Philadelphia on Wednesday night for Game 3 to help the Penguins. Someone sure needs to lend a hand. Because the power play certainly orphaned the team over the first two games of this series.
Thus far against the Flyers, the Penguins’ man-up unit is an ugly 0 for 7. Saturday’s most disappointing effort was the club’s second power play attempt when Pittsburgh managed three consecutive offsides violations but never registered a shot on goal.
On Monday, all five of the Penguins’ attempts were varying degrees of nauseating. Those efforts only yielded two shots on goal. Philly not only outshot the Penguins (3-2) a man down, but also outscored the Pens.
The Flyers’ second goal of the night came courtesy of Garnet Hathaway short-handed in the second period.
TIPPETT TO HATHAWAY ON THE PENALTY KILL!
The @NHLFlyers take a 2-0 lead! #StanleyCup
????: @espn, @Sportsnet, & @TVASports 2 pic.twitter.com/tbrBDYJg7U
— NHL (@NHL) April 21, 2026
“I think that one was just a little boo-boo by everybody on the ice, including myself,” Skinner said. “When you take a shift off, or you think you have some time on a power play, and you let a chance go, guys are going to do their best to bury it.”
Boo-boo? A boo-boo is something you fix with a kiss on the forehead and a Sponge Bob band-aid. The Penguins’ power play is more like a massive, festering wound.
“If they get the puck, they are going to be on the attack. We have to have awareness of what is behind us,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “It’s something we’ve talked about. We haven’t gotten to the point where it is consistent. There is obviously way too much coming back.”
The biggest issue Saturday was the zone entries. On Monday — whether a man up or even strength — it was shooting the puck. The Penguins couldn’t hit the net. The Penguins attempted 60 shots on the night. Only 27 needed to be saved by Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar. None of them got past him.
“Especially early on, you’ve got to find lanes,” Muse said of the Penguins’ inaccuracy. “It’s the NHL playoffs. Everybody is going to be in lanes. You are going to have to do the little things that can give you an extra inch — finding the shot lane a little bit quicker, getting to the net front a little bit faster.”
Understanding Muse’s point, according to NaturalStattrick.com, through 40 minutes, the Penguins had 34 shot attempts.
The final box score had 14 on goal. The Penguins were missing so much that I wasn’t sure if they were being coached by Muse or Kevin Stallings. Watching the Pens attempt to shoot was like watching Justin Fields try to pass.
But winger Bryan Rust says other issues were afoot.
“When you are playing a team like this, that has bodies in the lane a lot and clogging the game up, you are going to have to take shots and miss the net,” Rust said. “You are going to have to play those shots that are sprayed off the end wall, or off blocks, or off goalies. You have to be on your toes and be ready for those plays. We aren’t going to get any easy offense. We have to be ready for that.”
Give credit to the Flyers, though. Their penalty kill ranked 22nd in the NHL during the regular season (77.6%). The Penguins’ power play was seventh at 24.1%.
“Up ice pressure has been better. Some of the clears have been better,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said of his penalty kill. “There were some good adjustments that we did during those three or four days off (before Game 1) that helped us game plan for the power play. But it is tough to shut down.”
Much like Game 1, Skinner was good enough to win for Pittsburgh, turning aside 20 of the 22 shots he saw. He also took away the net on a failed penalty shot by Owen Tippett.
But for him and the rest of the Penguins so far, it’s been “A Hard Knock Life” in this series against Philadelphia. And unless things change in a big hurry, the Flyers will be on “Easy Street” to the second round.