If there were ever a time for urgency for this iteration of the Pittsburgh Penguins, last night was it. After back to back bad losses on the road to the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets, the Penguins found themselves back home on Valentine’s Night.

On a national broadcast against a Stanley Cup Playoff contender in the Florida Panthers, this was the definition of a must-win game. This was the perfect opportunity to show that this Penguins team was deserving of being in the conversation for the playoff race.

But instead, they showed us who they really were. An uninspired, disengaged, bad hockey team.

I genuinely can’t remember a time I’ve felt more defeated watching this team. It’s been years, at least. On a related note, I also cannot remember hearing more booing over the course of a season than this one. Again, it’s been years at least.

This 5-1 loss to the Panthers surely has trimmed down the low number of positive Penguins fans once again. It’s getting harder and harder, if it isn’t already possible, to believe that this team would actually do anything in the postseason.

But in my mind, we won’t have to wonder about that, because the Penguins will be nowhere near the playoffs.

This team doesn’t even look like they care anymore. Aside from Sidney Crosby and on occasion Kris Letang, they look entirely checked out. They can’t handle adversity of any kind; whenever things get hard, they lay down and die.

Take the called back power play goal as a perfect example. Rickard Rakell thought he scored on the power play (a sentence I never thought I could say again), but upon a coach’s challenge from the Panthers bench, the goal was called back because Lars Eller had touched the puck with a high stick prior to the goal.

So, the goal comes back, but the Penguins are still on the power play. You have a chance to reinvigorate the crowd and score all over again.

Instead, the Penguins allow thee opposite to happen.

This pathetic power play system rears its ugly head once again, and as soon as his penalty is up, Florida rushes down the ice to score and take the opening goal.

Less than a minute later, Florida scores again and it’s 2-0.

Every ounce of air is let out of the building, you could hear a pin drop in that place. The Penguins bench sits their stunned, while the players on the ice look like they would do anything to be not on the ice.

Before the period is out, the Panthers extend a lead to 4-0. Jake Guentzel scored for the Penguins to cut it to 4-1, but it’s far too little and far too late.

Half the arena had cleared out by midway through the third period.

The Penguins, at 23-20-7 (53 points), are seven points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They have games in hand on virtually team in front of them, but the problem is how many teams are in front of them. Between them and the Detroit Red Wings (who hold the second wild card) sit three different teams.

At this stage of the season, it’s incredibly hard to leapfrog three teams, especially teams who have all performed better than the Penguins recently.

The games in hand also do not mean anything if you don’t win them. The Penguins have lost three games in a row, and were 3-4-3 in their last 10 coming into last night.

Pittsburgh has not been consistent enough to string together as many wins as they would need to propel themselves into a firm place in the playoff competition. They are chasing games too often, and they fail to play well when they are behind.

And it’s not like they haven’t had chances. They have. They just fail whenever they get them.

Pittsburgh had four power play chances to get them back into the game; they went 0 for 4. Time is very close to officially running out, and given the way the Penguins have played, that doesn’t seem to matter.

Sooner or later we are going to have to have serious conversations about trading/selling off key players. We have to be open to trading Jake Guentzel (which I have said since the beginning and gotten lots of flack for). We have to see if there’s a taker for someone like Reilly Smith, and maybe even Rickard Rakell.

And no, that doesn’t have to mean rebuilding. It just means having to create a lot of change. Move out what isn’t working and try out new talent, via trades and free agency.

But the alternative, which is to keep things status quo or, god forbid, add at the deadline, just simply denies reality.

This is not a playoff team.

(Featured photo by Pamela Smith/Getty Images)