The Pittsburgh Penguins are now 5-8-2 this season after another loss where they surrendered more than five goals, dropping a Thursday night contest to the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 in Raleigh.
Anyone who reads the box score or watches the highlights will wonder how the Penguins, who dominated for most of the night, walked away with such a lopsided loss. Here are a few reasons why.
Penguins Give Up Five Goals for the Fifth Time This Season
Although the Penguins have the 25th-best record in the NHL, 5-8-2, they rank 32nd in goals against with 59. However, it boggles the mind that the club has scored the 15th most goals and is within ten tallies of ranking among the top five best offenses in the league.
Yet, goaltending continues to be the Achilles Heel of the season. If it weren’t for the Montreal Canadiens (4.07) and Colorado Avalanche (3.93), the Penguins would also have the highest goals-against average at 3.80.
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As fate would have it, Tristan Jarry is one of the top goalies in the AHL. But, even if he came back and stood on his head, he won’t be able to stop top teams from racking up the goals on a Penguins team with some pretty ugly plus/minus totals.
Despite the Chances, Scoring Ran Dry
Pittsburgh outshot the Hurricanes on Thursday, doubling up the home team 36-18, thanks to at least ten shots on goal in each period. No matter what the Penguins tried, they couldn’t get anything past Pyotr Kochetkov, who only surrendered a goal late in the third period.
Unfortunately, Sidney Crosby’s goal streak stopped at three games, while Evgeni Malkin went pointless for the second consecutive game. Even though Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan tinkered with the lineup and the power play, the team was outmatched in every aspect except shots on goal.
Everyone knew the Hurricanes presented a tough challenge, especially following a 4-1 win in mid-October, but no one expected the Penguins to be rolled through in both contests so far. Thankfully, Pittsburgh only faces Carolina one more time because they have been outscored 9-2 in only six periods.
This is a Tough Part of the Schedule
Everyone thought the four-game trip through Western Canada was tough, but the Penguins are back in the thick of a difficult part of their schedule. After some easier but nailing-biting wins over Anaheim and Montreal, Pittsburgh dropped a heartbreaker to the Islanders on Tuesday.
On Thursday, they drew the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes, who picked up an easy 5-1 victory. The Penguins will fly overnight to the nation’s capital, where they will play another top team in the division, the Washington Capitals.
Right now, Alex Ovechkin is on fire and is on pace for a 50-goal season. However, there’s no rest for the weary, as the 8-4-0 Dallas Stars are in town on Monday. At this point, the Penguins are fighting to stay ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers for last place in the Metropolitan Division, but that gap is only one point.
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As the losses pile up, the hope of becoming a wild card team in 2024-25 continues to slip away.
Penguins & Hurricanes Trivia Answers
How did you score in our Game Day Trivia quiz? Here are the answers.
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Evgeni Malkin
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Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby
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Marc-Andre Fleury
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Brian Gibbons
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Ron Francis
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Mario Lemieux
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Tom Barrasso
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Two (Michael Bunting & Jesse Puljujarvi)
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Jordan Staal
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Greg Millen
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