Sidney Crosby didn’t sugarcoat where the Penguins stand after Thursday night’s 6-2 loss to the Bruins. Pittsburgh’s skid is up to four straight, and the captain’s message was blunt: the issues are piling up because the team isn’t doing enough of the little things well enough for long enough.
“We just gotta be better,” Crosby said after the defeat.
That’s been the story of this stretch. The Penguins beat the Panthers and Predators in late October, then fell to the Mammoth, Canadiens, Golden Knights and Bruins. In 16 games this season, Pittsburgh has already given up five or more goals eight times, with shaky puck control and defensive breakdowns opening the door for opponents to generate chances.
Crosby, who went without a point for the second consecutive game, said the group’s inconsistency is showing up shift by shift.
“We’re not consistent enough through games,” Crosby said. “We’re making mistakes that are big ones, big chances that we’re giving up.”
He also said the Penguins may need to strip things down and focus on the basics.
“Whether it’s little things, habits, winning wall battles, you’re not gonna fix everything overnight,” Crosby said. “I think when it comes to the details of the game, they just haven’t been there consistently.
We’re playing catch-up because of it. We can keep talking all we want.
It’s up to us to correct it.”
Pittsburgh was chasing early on Thursday, trailing 3-1 after the first period. During the first intermission, assistant coach Rich Clune told SportsNet Pittsburgh’s Katie Florio that Boston made life difficult for the Penguins in the neutral zone and punished their mistakes.
Crosby said the problem hasn’t come down to just one issue, but the fix has to start somewhere.
“It hasn’t been one thing,” Crosby said, adding that the Penguins need to begin with “winning puck battles and executing a little better when we do have the puck.”
“Hopefully, everything else can kind of follow suit.”
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Penguins Fans Just Got A Telling Hint About Declan Carlile
After Wednesdays practice, Dan Muse made it clear Declan Carlile is not just filling a temporary spot, he has a place in the conversation as the Penguins sort through their blue line. Muses comments came in the middle of a day that also featured a veteran being taken out of the lineup, which only added to the sense that Pittsburghs roster picture is still very much in motion as the team works through early-season decisions.
For a Penguins club trying to balance experience, depth and flexibility, Carliles status is one of the more interesting subplots to watch. The wider league has also been buzzing with roster maneuvering, from trade talks elsewhere that stalled over contract considerations to waiver moves aimed at creating cap room, but Pittsburghs immediate focus is closer to home. Muses stance suggests Carlile has earned more than a passing look, even if the next step for the defense remains unsettled. [Read more 🡒]
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Kyle Dubas now faces the kind of early-season question that can shape the rest of the year: keep trying to force these veterans into a role that fits, or begin sorting out a roster that may need a different look. The Penguins are still early enough in the season to adjust, but if the current approach keeps dragging, the pressure to change course will only grow, whether that means a development push or a move that opens the door for something else. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Face A Bigger Problem Than Just One More Loss
The Penguins head into a home date with the Bruins carrying more than the usual weight of another loss, because the slide is starting to show up in the places that usually keep a team afloat. Their standing has been slipping along with the results, and the power play has become a growing concern after a recent game in which the advantage never translated into momentum. Before the California road trip begins, this is the kind of stretch that can make a team look up at the standings and realize the problem is bigger than one bad night.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has offered only a mixed backdrop, which does little to ease the pressure on the NHL club as it tries to steady itself. The bigger issue is not just that the Penguins are losing ground, but that the details inside the losses are starting to repeat, from special teams inefficiency to missed chances when the game is there to be grabbed. Against Boston, they will get another chance to reset, though the margin for error is getting thinner by the day. [Read more 🡒]