The Penguins' defensive lapses this season have been almost as frequent as they are flagrant.
There are people in the Witness Protection Program who remain more visible than some of their top-six forwards.
And one of the few things they've done consistently well in 2020-21 is to spot opponents multiple-goal leads.
It thus is perfectly logical that, five games into the season, the Penguins don't have a single regulation victory.
What makes considerably less sense is that, after a 4-3 shootout victory against the Rangers Friday night at PPG Paints Arena, they own a three-game winning streak and a winning record (3-2).
Oh, those stats carry a pretty large asterisk -- the losing team has taken a point out of each of their victories -- but in a bottom-line business like the NHL, "How many?" matters a lot more than "How?" After all, there is not a column for style points in the standings.
Make no mistake: If the Penguins have been executing things exactly the way the coaches drew them up, Mike Sullivan and his staff could be sued for malpractice.
Still, for all the adversity they've experienced -- much, if not most, of it self-inflicted -- the Penguins have proven to be pretty resilient.
Sure, it helps that they occasionally get an unexpected boost, like when New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren swept a Jared McCann centering pass out of the crease and past goalie Igor Shesterkin with his hand late in the second period to slice the Rangers' lead to 3-2:
But regardless, they're routinely finding ways to squeeze points out of what should be a formula for abject failure.
"Maybe we didn't deserve the wins that we got, but maybe we didn't deserve the losses that we got (in Philadelphia)," Kris Letang said. "At the end of the day, that's the way it is. Sometimes you win, (sometimes) you lose. You play good games (but) you don't get the bounces, you have to turn the page and try to get better every day. Right now, I can take the positive of it. We stayed in the game in all of them."
Letang got the shootout-decided goal when, after noticing that Shesterkin was playing deep in his crease when Jake Guentzel beat him in Round 1 of the shootout, he threw a backhander that caromed off the crossbar and into the net.
Tristan Jarry then clinched the victory by denying Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo:
Jarry earned his first victory in three starts this season by turning aside 31 of 34 shots during regulation and overtime, and two of the three he faced during the shootout.
New York scorched him for three goals in a span of 181 seconds early in the second period, and while Brian Dumoulin and Letang had major culpability on the first two, a big rebound by Jarry -- coupled with John Marino's failure to impede Kaapo Kakko as he drove to the net -- was an obvious issue on the goal that put the Rangers up, 3-1.
That goal prompted Mike Sullivan to use his timeout, during which he delivered an animated address to his players.
"I wanted to elicit a certain response," Sullivan said. "I wanted us to have a little pushback."
It worked. At least more than anything he had said to his team to that point.
"We played well after that," Jarry said.
Well, more often than they had before the timeout, anyway. But Jarry certainly seemed to benefit from the opportunity to refocus during the stoppage, because Kakko's rebound was the last puck that would elude him.
"He made a lot of timely saves for us," Sullivan said. "He was big in the shootout."
There was precious little reason to anticipate a shootout when New York scored three quick goals before the second period was six minutes old to morph a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 advantage.
The Rangers had enjoyed an edge in play during the opening period, but the Penguins got the only goal during those 20 minutes, as Bryan Rust deflected a Cody Ceci shot out of the air and into the Rangers' net at 10:29:
The Penguins had been outscored, 10-5, during the first period in their previous four games, and apparently found leading at the intermission for the first time this season to be unsettling, because they quickly set about tilting the game in New York's favor.
The Penguins didn't fall behind as early as they had in the first four games of the season, but made certain that well before the midpoint of the second period arrived, they were in a familiar spot: Staring at an imposing deficit.
"We have to have better starts," McCann said. "We're digging ourselves in a pretty deep hole in the first period. ... We can't keep chasing the game. We have to come out with better starts."
That have to get some more production, especially at even strength, from their top lines, too.
Rust, Sidney Crosby and Evan Rodrigues -- the latter a placeholder for Kasperi Kapanen on the No. 1 unit -- have one even-strength goal each. Evgeni Malkin, Jason Zucker and Guentzel all are looking for their first.
And the hunting hasn't been very good so far.
If it were, perhaps the Penguins would have to spend so much time playing from behind.
Getting better starts likely would spare them the stress born of playing from behind for much of the game. Not that the Penguins seem to be fazed by having to do that, considering that they've trialed by at least two goals in four of their first five games.
Overcoming such deficits is impressive. It's also a low-percentage approach to winning games.
"It's not ideal," Letang said. "We don't want to get used to that. We want to break that kind of a streak. It's a fast-paced game out there. We have to get to our game as soon as the puck drops, and we have to keep at it for 60 minutes. We'll take the points, but we have to learn from this."
They obviously haven't absorbed that lesson yet, although they certainly seem to recognize the importance of doing so.
"We can't keep chasing the game," McCann said. "There are going to be teams out there that just keep pressing and play a full 60 minutes. We can't be sitting back. We have to push forward."
And do it before they start to be faced with deficits that can't be overcome with any sort of regularity, regardless of what they've managed to do lately.
"We're a resilient group," Sullivan said. "None of these games are going to be perfect, especially early in the season. We're trying to find our way a little bit. This is all part of the learning process. This is part of the evolution of a team. We know we have a long way to go here. But what I really admire about our group is, they find ways."
• Ceci, a healthy scratch for the previous three games, skated alongside Marino on the No. 2 pairing and acquitted himself pretty well. He logged 18 minutes, 53 seconds of ice time and assisted on Rust's first-period goal. "I thought Cody had a good game," Sullivan said. "I know he was eager to get in the lineup. I thought he played with a lot of enthusiasm. He defended hard."
• McCann's goal -- the one Lindgren pushed into his own net -- was his first in 27 regular-season games, a drought that stretched back to Jan. 14, 2020.
• The Penguins won 13 of 15 faceoffs during the opening period, They finished with a 35-18 edge on draws, led by Crosby (16-6).
• New York is young, skilled and fast, and has the potential to be a major force in the Eastern Conference in a couple of seasons. All three of its goal-scorers are 22 or younger.
• Kapanen had another solid showing, including an assist on P.O Joseph's goal that forced overtime:
Kapanen played primarily on the fourth line, although he occasionally skated with Guentzel and Crosby on the first.
• The Rangers were credited with 40 hits, while the Penguins had 30.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Bryan Rust, Penguins
2. Phillip DiGiuseppe, Rangers
3. P.O Joseph, Penguins
THE INJURIES
• Zach Aston-Reese underwent left shoulder surgery in August and has been skating with the taxi squad.
• Zach Trotman underwent right knee surgery Jan. 14 and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks
• Mike Matheson is out indefinitely with an unspecified injury sustained Jan. 15.
• Marcus Pettersson has an unspecified injury and is listed as "week to week.".
• Juuso Riikola is out "longer term" with an unspecified injury.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Evan Rodrigues
Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Bryan Rust
Jared McCann-Mark Jankowski-Brandon Tanev
Colton Sceviour-Teddy Blueger-Kasperi Kapanen
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
John Marino-Cody Ceci
P.O Joseph-Chad Ruhwedel
And for David Quinn's Rangers:
Alexis Lafreniere-Mike Zibanejad-Chris Kreider
Artemi Panarin-Ryan Strome-Pavel Buchnevich
Phillip Di Giuseppe-Filip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko
Brendan Lemieux-Kevin Rooney-Brett Howden
Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba
Jack Johnson-Tony DeAngelo
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will be off Saturday, then face the Rangers again Sunday at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
THE CONTENT
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