Depleted Penguins Fall Short To Flyers, Prepare For 4 Nations Break

Despite missing their top-two centers on Friday against the New York Rangers, the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to pull off an improbable 3-2 victory.

But compounding lineup losses on Saturday may have proven too much.

Already down Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins took the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers without first-line winger Bryan Rust and forward Boko Imama as well. And – despite outplaying Philadelphia – their lack of finishing touch haunted them, as they dropped the contest, 3-2, despite a good push.

“I’m proud of these guys,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’re playing hard. I mean, let’s just state the obvious: We’re a little undermanned lately, and these guys are stepping up. They’re stepping up, they’re playing hard, we’re competing. It’s not perfect. We’re going to make some mistakes out there. It’s a game of mistakes. But, most of them are mistakes of enthusiasm. We’ll live with those. We’ll work through them.

“We’re competing hard. I just think we’ve got a good group. I think we have good people. These guys are high-character guys. They care an awful lot about winning and trying to play the game the right way, and their intentions are in the right spot. It’s a hard league. It’s not easy to win, and I think these guys are competing hard.”

Without Rust or Crosby in the fold, the Penguins rolled with a first line of Anthony Beauvillier, Kevin Hayes, and Rickard Rakell, and they contributed to both Penguins goals.

Scott Laughton scored on Philadelphia’s first shot of the game less than two minutes into the first period, but Pittsburgh dominated the period otherwise. They held the Flyers to just two shots in the first, and they carried that momentum into the second frame, when Erik Karlsson tied the score on a snipe to the upper-right corner of the net behind goaltender Sam Ersson after a great cycling shift by the first line.

However, an unfortunate bounce from the Penguins’ attacking zone out toward their own zone ended up a footrace between Kris Letang, Vasily Ponomarev, Flyers forward Garnett Hathaway, and Penguins goaltender Joel Blomqvist, who hesitated to go after the puck. When he did, he tried to swat the puck out of the zone from between the circles, but he instead hit Hathaway, and it bounced right back into the net.

Travis Konecny added another goal early in the third period for the Flyers to make it 3-1, then Hayes brought the score to within one on a no-quit play in Ersson’s blue paint. The play was not ruled a goal on the ice due to goaltender interference – among some confusion about the whistle – but the Penguins successfully challenged.

Pittsburgh did push late, but they ultimately came up short. Nonetheless, they were 3-1-1 heading into the 4 Nations Face-off break, and – despite the injury adversity of recent games – can feel pretty good about themselves as most of them take some time off.

“I think we played well today,” Karlsson said. “I think we played really well yesterday as well. Obviously, [we were] on the back-to-back today, but we were into it, and I think for the better part of this game, except for scoring goals, we played really good. I think we played with some passion, and we had great effort… and when we made mistakes, everybody was there to back you up. We worked hard for each other.”

Here are a few thoughts and observations from Saturday’s loss:

– After a couple of rough games, Karlsson was very good against Philadelphia.

The shot on his goal was unbelievable. He was generating offense the entire evening. He was making key defensive plays to thwart Flyers scoring chances.

He really took the reins for the Penguins and was the primary driving force for an offense-depleted team. Had the Penguins won this game, Karlsson would have been a very large reason why.

– At the end of the game – with just over nine seconds remaining – there was a pileup around the Philadelphia net front. The Penguins had their goaltender pulled and were looking to even things up. The scuffle began to settle down, and Michael Bunting was standing on his feet, beginning to break free from a tangle-up by the net.

Flyers forward Scott Laughton, out of nowhere, decided to take a liberty on Bunting while he wasn’t looking – and while the refs weren’t looking – by slashing his stick on the top of Bunting’s foot. Bunting went down for a few seconds and was slow to get up, but once he did. he let Laughton have it verbally. 

I’m all for guys mixing it up and sticking up for their goaltender and their teammates, but this was a cheap shot by Laughton. There’s no place for stuff like that in the game.

The Penguins play the Flyers in consecutive games at the end of February. It will be interesting to see if they respond at all.

– Blomqvist had not started a game since Jan. 25 in Seattle, which was exactly two weeks ago.

And he played like a goaltender that hadn’t started a game in two weeks.

He played quite a bit better as the game went on. He made some key saves when the Flyers were pressuring at times in the third, and he even made some key stops early on, when the Penguins gave the Flyers some odd-man rushes and breakaway opportunities.

But he was shaky at best early on, and the play he made on the Flyers’ second goal was rough. He hesitated just enough that it was too late, and he would have been better off staying in his net. He also had two relatively fast players in Letang and Ponomarev backchecking to track down Hathaway.

It would have been the right play if made a second earlier. Unfortunately, he made it at exactly the wrong time.

Blomqvist – along with Ponomarev and Emil Bemstrom – was optioned back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton following the game because of the 4 Nations break and NHL stoppage. It’s an opportunity for him to get some consistent playing time in the AHL during the hiatus, which is something that a hot Alex Nedeljkovic just hasn’t afforded him at the NHL level over the last couple of weeks.

– Speaking of Ponomarev and Bemstrom, they began the game on a third line along with Philip Tomasino. Although they were both fine, neither stood out, and they were definitely the least noticeable trio throughout the game. And – assuming the Penguins are mostly healthy after the break – these guys probably won’t be back, at least not until after the trade deadline.

But here’s the thing: In order to really see what you have out of some of these guys, they’re going to need some runway to actually play their way through some mishaps and mistakes at the NHL level. It’s not going to do them any good to get less than 10 minutes of ice time – Ponomarev was the only Penguins player to receive less than 10 minutes on Saturday – and get relegated to the bench for mistakes especially related to the NHL’s game speed.

Ponomarev made a few such mistakes against the Flyers. There were a few times he misread or miscalculated some plays on the rush, either turning it over or underestimating the speed of his opponents. He did make a few nice plays in the defensive zone – as he is known for – but his offensive game needs a bit of work at the NHL level.

There’s going to be a bit of an adjustment period for some of these younger guys. For most of them, actually. So exercising some patience with them – instead of burying them or condemning them after less than a handful of games with low-end minutes – will do both fans and the coaching staff some good.

– The Penguins head into the 4 Nations break sitting six points out of the second wild card spot. They are in a tie points-wise with the Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens at 55, and they have been playing better despite the seemingly insurmountable injuries to their roster.

It remains to be seen whether or not Sidney Crosby will suit up for Team Canada for 4 Nations, and Karlsson and Rakell will represent Sweden. But, after the break, it is back to business for everyone.

There is a trade freeze during 4 Nations, and the trade deadline is less than two weeks after return-to-play. It’s hard to say what’s going to happen between now and then, but if there’s one thing this Penguins’ team has shown, it’s heart.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: This is a tight-knit group. They want to win with each other and for each other. Unfortunately, this loss may loom large, as they find themselves six points instead of four points out.

Chances are, the group will be even more different a few weeks from now. So, for now, sit back and enjoy the 4 Nations Face-off for what it is, and expect some changes when the dust settles again.