Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has just left the building. Only this time, he left out of disgust.
The Penguins fell 5-4 to the New York Islanders in overtime Tuesday night at home, in the latest of heartbreaking losses that will doom this year’s Penguins season. In most cases, getting a point thanks to a loss in extra time would be a nice consolation prize, but for the Penguins, if there was ever, ever a night when you needed two, it was here.
Instead, Adam Pelech waltzed into Pittsburgh’s zone and ripped a pinging shot off the post and past Alex Nedeljkovic for the win. The Islanders get to keep their hopes alive, despite surrendering a 4-2 lead they held in the third period.
I’ve made my thinking on this Penguins team clear for a while now. This is not a playoff team. I titled an article that very phrase last week on Valentine’s Day after their loss to the Florida Panthers.
That sentiment still holds true, and the number of people who are still clinging to hope continue to dwindle by the day.
But rarely have I seen a game that showcased everything that was wrong with a team quite like this loss vs the Islanders. From own goals to poor defense, awful coaching decisions and a sick twist of irony, this game truly had everything.
The Penguins started out well in this one. Marcus Pettersson fired home the team’s opening goal to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
But the good times don’t last, and as has been the case for almost every Penguins game this season, they cannot play a full 60 minute effort.
The Islanders scored three unanswered second period goals, to send a 1-0 Pittsburgh lead to a 3-1 deficit. One of those goals included Mat Barzal scoring straight after coming out of the penalty box.
This goal came after a Penguins power play that featured only one shot on goal…by the Islanders.
That’s not even close to the worst one, however. Erik, no Erik! Wrong net!
Only god would truly know what Erik Karlsson was doing here, but helping his team sure as hell wasn’t it. One of the stupidest bank passes (to himself mind you) ends up behind an unsuspecting Nedeljkovic and into the net.
New York’s Simon Holstrom gets credit for just showing up.
The Penguins do stop the bleeding enough to get it back to a one-goal game. Lars Eller is able to get it through traffic and into the back of the net, and before the second period is out, Pittsburgh is awarded a power play that carries over into the third period.
Down a goal heading into the third, with the man advantage, and your season basically on the line? My friends, that’s what we call a prime opportunity. And that’s exactly why the Penguins didn’t take it.
A power play that, were it not so maddening, could put you to sleep ensures that the Islanders keep the lead, and get to their patented defensive, lock it down kind of game. Dumping the puck in over and over, and making it hard for the Penguins to even gain zone entries.
That struggle helps the Islanders tally another goal, which at the time felt like a backbreaker as New York took a 4-2 lead with under ten minutes to play.
Oh but these Penguins, they don’t make losing easy.
Feeling the pressure, the Penguins finally respond. Valtteri Puustinen gets his first goal in quite a while to put some life back in the arena, and Drew O’Connor puts on a second act to make this game a 4-4 tie.
The crowd was alive, and the Penguins were pushing to end this game in regulation to avoid giving their divisional rival an extra point as well.
Here is where the inexplicable coaching decisions start to come in. Despite being dogwalked all night, defenseman Ryan Graves is elevated to prime minutes in the dying moments of this game. Jeff Carter is also out there, frequently, as the Penguins are pushing for offense.
Listen, Carter may not be the worst option to go to for offense late in the game. but he certainly shouldn’t be a top choice. I might be in the minority for saying I’ve liked how he has played this season, but it isn’t because of his production (6 goals, 2 assists in 46 games).
Despite that, I don’t think that’s the worst decision head coach Mike Sullivan made in this game. He saved that for overtime.
To start 3-on-3 OT, Sully sends out Lars Eller and Reilly Smith as his forwards. Eller and Smith. To start.
I thought both had decent games; Eller had a goal and Smith was vert noticeable in a good way, but starting them out there ahead of Sidney Crosby, or Evgeni Malkin, or Bryan Rust, or several other names is beyond insane.
It’s the kind of decision that a coach makes with the intention to lose.
Predictably, Smith and Eller struggle to get possession, and Eller gets caught on the ice for too long as he’s looking for a change. When he thinks it’s safe, he rushes to switch out for Rust, but that allows New York’s Adam Pelech to skate right into Pittsburgh’s zone.
Replacements Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby both look to each other to challenge Pelech, but neither one of them does, and Pelech makes no mistake.
Nedeljkovic, by the way, has to come up with a save there, but his postgame comments tell me he knows that.
Neither one of Crosby or Letang even attempts to stop Pelech. Just completely flat-footed.
Not only did the Penguins fail to gain real ground, but they gave away points to someone directly ahead of them in the standings. But at this point, it doesn’t really matter.
I’ll keep saying what I’ve been saying: this is not a playoff team. There’s no good depth, there’s limited defense, and the power play…well, I’ve already talked about that too many times.
It’s never been more over (this season) than it is right now. Kyle Dubas fell asleep at the wheel this season, and even if he wakes up now, his only real option is to sell. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot to sell, and their biggest trade asset is stuck on the shelf until after the deadline.
What a mess this season is.
(Featured photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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