UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Don't ask what Kris Letang was thinking.
Ask what he was even trying.
So much went awry for the Penguins, particularly their all-over-creation defensemen, in this 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday night at Nassau Coliseum. And in that process, so many individuals were responsible, from the coaching staff through most of the roster.
But on that decisive goal, by Josh Bailey at 4:39 of overtime, it began with one very bad idea:
That up there is Letang entering the New York zone one-on-three, then trying ... let's zoom in a little to see:
My God, that's a toe-drag. Maybe the lowest-percentage move in hockey, one that hasn't worked for anyone associated with the Penguins on any consistent basis since ... what, Mike Bullard?
Which is all bad enough. But the full context offers much more badness.
Because the third forward line of Dominik Simon, Nick Bjugstad and Phil Kessel had bounded over the boards at 3:32, more than a full minute before Bailey's finish. And, although they'd actually had a fine shift for the portion that should have been the totality of that shift, only Simon responsibly found his way back to the bench for a change. Bjugstad and Kessel hung around.
That was a mistake, but it didn't need to be a fatal one.
It became that because Letang ... I'm not even sure how to describe that. And, because he, like pretty much everyone on the team other than the captain and goaltender, bailed from the locker room as if their behinds were ablaze, any explanation wasn't readily available.
Suffice it to say that, after a steady stream of Mike Sullivan and staff drilling into their players to stay poised, stay patient and, above all, to avoid being sucked into the Islanders' black hole of numbers in the neutral zone and at the blue line ... Letang tried a toe-drag.
On a one-on-three.
Against the NHL's stingiest defense.
With huffing, puffing forwards all around him already long overdue for a change.
With the Penguins attacking toward the end farthest from their bench.
With no hope of anything positive coming from any of it.
Coach?
"Yes," Sullivan replied flatly when asked if the approach was too aggressive. "Look, it's everything we talked about for the past couple days, just making sure we manage the puck and we have situational awareness in mind. When you're late in shifts, especially when you're in the long change from the bench, you've got to make good decisions with the puck. If we had numbers and an opportunity for a potential scoring chance, I think we can take a calculated risk. I'm not sure we had the awareness that we needed there."
Ouch.
The rest wasn't any prettier:
Brian Dumoulin, who performed no better than Letang in his likely premature return from injury, fell fathoms below his own standard in sliding right out of a two-on-one. That allowed Mathew Barzal, New York's top young talent, too much space to operate.
Zach Aston-Reese, the only fresh forward, tracked back to shove Jordan Eberle out of harm's way. Bjugstad and Kessel, now on fumes, get back agonizingly slowly, with Kessel completely letting up at two different points.
And Letang?
As if enough damage hadn't already been wrought, he himself lets up upon getting back over the Pittsburgh blue line -- he's in the middle up there -- only to cross-check Barzal directly into Matt Murray, making it impossible for him to do anything more than force Barzal's shot into the far pipe.
"I knew I had kind of a mini-two-on-one there with Ebs," Barzal would say. "I was thinking shot, actually. Didn't want to waste an opportunity. But I decided to be patient because I knew we had some time."
Time and space, as the hockey people say. An abundance of both.
Funny thing: Bailey was at the end of extended shift himself. Barzal and Eberle had just jumped over the boards, but Bailey decided to join the rush rather than change for Anders Lee.
"I was kind of tired, just trying to catch up," Bailey conceded. "Fortunately, Mat made a great play and showed a lot of poise. We got the bounce that we needed."
There was more than fortune and a favorable bounce involved, 58 times over.
