Long after he spoke to reporters, Sidney Crosby sat in his locker stall, his eyes staring straight ahead. This was a 1,000-yard gaze generally reserved for playoff losses, not Tuesday night games in February against the Hurricanes.
What must have been going through Crosby's mind? Frustration, clearly.
Crosby and the Penguins have certainly known their share of defeats lately, yet few were as maddening as their 4-0 loss to the surging Hurricanes. It was their second loss in a row and sixth in their past nine games.
Against the young Hurricanes, the Penguins failed to match their opponents' speed or proficiency.
“We’ve got to try to stop them from shooting and we’ve got to shoot,” Mike Sullivan was saying Tuesday morning about the Hurricanes, the NHL's leaders in both shots for and fewest shots against. That formula hasn't always translated into wins for Carolina, but it has lately and it certainly did Tuesday.
A few hours later, Sullivan's team did neither. They were outshot, 32-23, as the Hurricanes pulled to within three points of the final wildcard spot and four points of the Penguins, who sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division.
"I don't think there was any sort of circumstance where we were under siege," Sullivan said. "There wasn't an exorbitant amount of shots being taken. I thought for the most part we defended hard when they had pucks in our zone. But having said that, we've got to find a way to score to make it hard on their team defense by having more offensive zone time."
The Penguins' 23 shots were their fourth-fewest this season but, indeed, they certainly had their chances. They just didn't finish them.
Some of that's on them and some of that was due to the outstanding play of Curtis McElhinney. The 35-year-old journeyman became just the second goalie to shut out the Penguins this season:
McElhinney, who was claimed off waivers from Toronto in October, joins former Maple Leafs teammate Frederik Andersen as the only goalie to hold the NHL's sixth-highest scoring team (3.43 goals per game) completely in check this season. Anderson did it on Nov. 3, back in the dark days of November when the Penguins went 4-7-3.
Despite corrective measures taken by Jim Rutherford in recent weeks, the Penguins are now in a funk not seen since then.
"I think some of the chances we had throughout the game, we didn't capitalize," Crosby said. "We had a couple go through legs, others hit posts, stuff like that. It was a tight game and you have to capitalize on your chances, and we didn't."
At the 14:53 mark of the first, newcomer Jared McCann cut to the front of the net on his forehand and appeared to have McElhinney down and out. But then McElhinney made a desperation scorpion-like save that would have made Dominik Hasek proud:
With three minutes remaining in the opening period, Juuso Riikola drove hard to the net, shoveling a backhander that squirted through McElhinney's five-hole but rolled wide of the far post.
Trailing 1-0 in the second period, the Penguins earned their first power play but Jake Guentzel's redirect from the slot clanked harmlessly off the post with 9:57 remaining. The Penguins had just three shots on two power play opportunities and have now scored just once on their last 15 opportunities, dating back to Jan. 19.
Down 2-0 in the third with 8:29 remaining, Crosby had a point-blank chance from the right side of the net, but his muffed shot slid under McElhinney's pads and wide of the far post:
"(Lucas Wallmark) was holding my stick," Crosby explained. "So I didn't have a good chance."
Perhaps, but it was one of eight high-danger chances that the Penguins had compared to five for the Hurricanes. The difference was that the Hurricanes converted on theirs. Far more troubling was that Crosby's shot was just the Penguins' third of the period after they failed to register one shot on McElhinney over the first 10 minutes.
It all added up to more than a few dazed and confused looks in the Penguins' dressing room.
"We've got to find a way to win games like that," Crosby said.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THREE STARS
My curtain calls go to …
1. Curtis McElhinney
Hurricanes goaltender
McElhinney made the saves he had to and a few he probably shouldn't have. It was his third win in 10 career games against the Penguins and first since Jan. 15.
2. Brent Pesce
Hurricanes defenseman
On Carolina's swift-skating defense corps, Pesce doesn't get as much notoriety as Jaccob Slavin and Justin Faulk, but it was Pesce who put Carolina up 2-0 with his fifth of the season.
3. Jordan Martinook
Hurricanes center
Carolina's third-line center opened the scoring with his 12th of the season. It was the only goal McElhinney and the Hurricanes needed.
THE INJURIES
• Evgeni Malkin, center, remains out with an upper-body injury. He skated on his own Tuesday morning.
• Justin Schultz, defenseman, took part in the morning skate but didn't play. Sullivan said that Schultz’s injury “responded very well” after taking part in his first full-contact practice on Monday.
• Zach Aston-Reese, right winger, out with a broken left hand, also skated on his own Tuesday.
THE GOOD
On Monday, Sullivan chided his defensemen in practice for forcing plays on breakout passes that were quickly turned the other way. Sullivan said that sometimes the best play is no play and just putting the puck in safer areas.
The Penguins were far from perfect defensively (as we'll get into in The Bad), but the transition game was not an issue. ... Instead it was the Penguins' gap control.
“If we don't execute on the outlet pass, we needed to come back,” Sullivan said. “Or if the play stalled or there was a puck bobble, that’s when we need to be available more than once. We’ve got to put the brakes on. We’ve got to come back to the puck. We’ve got to offer that second and third support.”
Nope, not a lot of good for the home team.
THE BAD
The Hurricanes' first two goals, the only ones that mattered, came at a combined distance of nearly 76 feet. Matt Murray, who allowed three goals on 31 shots, didn't see either one of them until it was too late.
The first came with 45 seconds remaining in the first period after the Penguins had just enjoyed extended offensive zone time. On the rush, Brock McGinn tossed a drop pass to Jordan Martinook, who wired a 37-foot wrister from the left circle that glanced off Tanner Pearson's shin pad and beat Murray, who got just a piece of it with his glove:
"I was trying to use the D as screen, and I think it actually went off him a little bit. A good play by Ginner to drive him back. You got get a little lucky sometimes," Martinook said. "Whenever you can play with the lead, it's definitely key."
The second goal came at 12:58 of the second when Pesce fired a wrister from atop the left circle with Nino Niederreiter providing the screen:
“I say it all the time, that’s how most goals are scored in the league nowadays,” Murray was saying. “As a goalie, it’s tough to make that first save when you can’t see the puck. Even if you make that first save, it’s hard to control the rebound.”
After potential trade target Micheal Ferland hit an empty net goal with 18:29 left, Murray went back in goal and then proceeded to give up an uninspired goal to Andrei Svechnikov. It was the 2018 second-overall pick's 13th of the season and first -- of probably a few more to come -- against the Penguins.
Murray has now lost three of his last four starts since the All-Star break.
THE PLAY
Desperate times call for desperate measures. That's what Sullivan did with Crosby over the final 30 minutes after Carolina had taken a two-goal lead.
Basically, Sullivan had Crosby and McCann flip their wingers with Crosby getting time with Patric Hornqvist and Dominik Simon while McCann played with Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. Crosby was also double-shifted at times and ended up playing 22:46. That's his seventh-most minutes in ice time this season and fifth most in regulation. The Penguins are 2-5 when he's played more than 22:30 this season.
"Tried to get him some offensive zone starts, we were looking to create a spark," Sullivan said. "I utilized Sid between both the wing pairs. Both wing pairs are good pairs and Sid's played with both of them quite a bit the last few years."
Obviously, the moves were made to get a spark but it's interesting to see that Crosby was reunited with Hornqvist. When Malkin and Aston-Reese return from injury, Sullivan will have a decision to make as to who will play right wing on the top line. Hornqvist, who has played frequently with Crosby, has just one goal in his last 11 games and none in the six games he's played since returning from a concussion.
"We didn't play our best, and we didn't have execution," said Hornqvist.
THE CALL
There was not any controversy but the third period was played with just one referee as Brian Pochmara left after the second period with a lower body injury. Why the ambiguity regarding a referee's injury? Who knows. But it did leave Dan O'Halloran as the only one in stripes wearing an orange armband. Though the restless home crowd wanted a few calls against the Hurricanes, the only penalty O'Halloran called over the final 20 minutes was a holding call on Pearson.
THE OTHER SIDE
Tuesday night's game was the first in a five-game road trip for the Hurricanes. Needless to say they were quite pleased with its start.
"Right now, we're in a critical spot where we've just got to keep pushing every game," McElhinney said.
Next up for the Hurricanes is Thursday night's game against the Sabres in Buffalo. The Hurricanes and Sabres are tied with 58 points, three points behind the slumping Blue Jackets.
When the Hurricanes play with speed and their north-south puck pursuit game, they can be a frustrating team to play against. The Penguins limited Sebastian Aho, the NHL's 16th-leading scorer, to just one shot on goal, snapping his five-game points streak. And still they lost to Rod Brind'Amour's team:
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will practice in Cranberry at noon Wednesday before chartering to South Florida, where they’ll take on the Panthers the following night. DK and Matt Sunday will have coverage of that game, as well as the game Saturday night in Tampa.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Penguins team page for everything.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Hurricanes, PPG Paints Arena, Feb. 5, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS