Penguins trying to turn 'discouragement into determination' as skid hits four games

SEATTLE -- Marcus Pettersson said after this game that "every loss is a loss, every win is a win, they're worth the same at the end of the year."

Yes, in the standings, the Penguins' 3-1 loss to the Kraken here in Seattle on Saturday was just another missed opportunity for those two points. But one gets the sense in the locker room afterward that this loss might have stung the most of the losses that now comprise the Penguins' four-game losing streak.

It wasn't the worst loss of the four on this western road trip. The game in Edmonton had a historically-bad second period that the Penguins were unable to come back from. The loss to the Flames in Calgary had what might have been the Penguins' worst start all season. The Penguins' loss in Vancouver was to a team at the bottom of the league's standings and had yet another poor start, with Sidney Crosby citing the team's lack of urgency as an issue afterward.

This game in Seattle didn't have any of those elements. The Penguins' start was better. It wasn't a perfect 60-minute effort, but they didn't completely collapse for entire periods. The needed urgency was on display at times, especially in the Penguins' third-period push to tie the game. Still, some of the issues that plagued the Penguins in those earlier games remained. This was another game in which the Penguins struggled to score and unnecessarily high-risk plays proved costly. 

The Penguins showed improvements, but they just weren't enough. The result was the same, and it had the locker room feeling pretty dejected afterward.

"Our guys are discouraged," Mike Sullivan said afterward. "As you know, they're proud guys. They care about winning. And when you go through times like this, everybody feels it because they care. We all do."

The Penguins' skaters just seemed snakebitten in this one. This is a team that put six goals past a team like the Lightning just two weeks ago, and today they struggled to solve Martin Jones, who had 32 saves on 33 of the Penguins' shots in the win. They made him look like an All-Star goaltender:

 "There were moments in the game where we carried the play, there was moments when they did," Sullivan assessed. "But it just seems like right now it's a struggle to score goals. When you're going through times like this, I think we've just got to simplify the game, shoot the puck a little bit more."

Simplifying the game is going to be a big part of getting out of this funk. The Penguins have been a high-risk team thoughout this skid. They know it. Opponents know it. When Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn did his intermission interview after the opening period, he categorized the Penguins as a team that "likes to make high-risk plays."

It didn't take long for the Kraken to be able to capitalize on one of those, either. Kasperi Kapanen made a no-look, spin-o-rama pass to nobody in the second period that landed right on the stick of Dunn, fittingly enough. Dunn sprung Morgan Geekie and Daniel Sprong on an odd-man rush the other way. Casey DeSmith made the initial stop on Sprong's shot, but then Geekie buried the rebound. It put Seattle up 2-1 and would prove to be the game-winner:

Sullivan described that move by Kapanen as a "low-percentage play," meaning that it seldom proves to pay off, but has a chance of backfiring. That's what the Penguins need to eliminate from their game.

"That's what I'm talking about," Sullivan said. "If we simplify the game in that area of the rink and challenge with wide speed, put the puck at the net, we can score goals that way. It takes some risk out of your game, you don't feed the transition game."

I asked Pettersson if he thinks the team is playing too high-risk right now, and he acknowledged that the team can tend to "open it up a little bit in games" with their play.

"I think it gets the opponents some chances," he said. "We've got to dig in. We know we have it in this room."

The loss dropped the Penguins to a .500 record of 4-4-1. At just nine games into an 82-game season, there's more than enough time to get on the right track. They've got to get on that track sooner rather than later to avoid these squandered points coming back to bite them in the spring. They believe they have it in them to do that.

"We've just got to make sure that we turn our discouragement into determination and make sure that we can we continue to work at finding the solution," Sullivan said. "I know we're a good hockey team, we've shown an ability to be good and we're capable of better play. We've just got to make sure we continue to stay with it here."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Jeff Carter left the game after the first period and didn't return. It's not clear how he may have been injured. Sullivan said after the game that Carter was being evaluated for a lower-body injury. I saw Carter walking to the bus after the game and he seemed to be moving fine, no noticeable limp.

• Guentzel and Jason Zucker both returned from injury after Guentzel missed the last four games with an upper-body injury sustained by a Letang shot to the ear against the Kings, and Zucker missed the last two with a lower-body injury sustained by a cross-check to the hip area in the loss in Edmonton. Guentzel skated on the top line with Crosby and Rust, while Zucker returned to Evgeni Malkin's wing opposite Rickard Rakell. 

• Guentzel scored the Penguins' lone goal. He was sprung on a breakaway with a tape-to-tape pass from Jamie Oleksiak, who doesn't actually play for the Penguins anymore:

"It's great," Sullivan said of Guentzel's showing in his return. "He gives us a big boost in the lineup. He's such a talented player. He's a real competitive guy. I thought he played real hard tonight."

• The Penguins caught two big breaks in this game, courtesy of their video staff. The Kraken appeared to strike first midway through the second period. Jordan Eberle cut to the net and drew DeSmith far out of the crease, then got past him with a slick move. Ryan Donato knocked the puck in at the goal line. The Penguins challenged the goal for offside and it was almost immediately called back, not a lengthy review at all.

The next play came later in the same period when Andre Burakovsky scored a goal that would have made it a 2-1 game. The Penguins challenged the goal on the basis that a stoppage should have occurred prior to the goal due to the puck being played with a high stick. That goal came back after a more lengthy review, much to the ire of the Seattle crowd. The place was absolutely livid.

• Eberle almost immediately got the Kraken on the board after that last disallowed goal with a play that started when Jan Rutta lost the puck behind the net:

• Seattle's third goal was an empty-net tally with 60 seconds remaining.

• DeSmith made 27 saves on 29 shots and is still searching for his first win of the season.

• This was Sullivan's 516th game coached for the Penguins, tying Eddie Johnston for the most in franchise history.

• There's no shortage of ex-Penguins on this Kraken team, with Brandon Tanev, Jared McCann, Justin Schultz Sprong and Oleksiak all in the lineup for Seattle.

• The Kraken's AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, played the Calgary Wranglers at the Kraken's practice rink earlier in the day. Coachella Valley head coach Dan Bylsma stuck around to watch this game and was in the press box.

• This building is beautiful. The top of the seats are at street level, and there's a big window at one end of the rink so natural light comes in while the sun is still up. I'm usually not crazy about live music at these places before warmups but the band they had here was actually great. The pregame hype video is good too:

• Obligatory press box snack update: This place wins the award for best offerings of the western road trip. Free frozen yogurt in the media workroom, then Starbucks, several candy dispensers, and some massive cookies in the press box. At first intermission they put out hot dogs that put Montreal's to shame.

TAYLOR HAASE / DKPS

Starburst on tap.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE THREE STARS

As selected at Climate Pledge Arena:

1. Jordan Eberle, Kraken RW
2. Martin Jones, Kraken G
3. Morgan Geekie, Kraken C

THE INJURIES

• Forward Teddy Blueger has resumed practicing with the team as he recovers from an upper-body injury. He's day-to-day, but he was placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 11. The earliest he can return is Nov. 5 against the Kraken. Sullivan said prior to Saturday's game that the team is hopeful Blueger will be able to return close to that date.

• Forward Jeff Carter suffered a lower-body injury in this game and is still being evaluated.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Brock McGinn - Ryan Poehling - Josh Archibald

Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Jeff Petry
P.O Joseph - Jan Rutta

And for Dave Hakstol's Kraken:

Jaden Schwartz - Matty Beniers - Jordan Eberle
Andre Burakovsky - Alexander Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Jared McCann - Yanni Gourde - Brandon Tanev
Ryan Donato - Morgan Geekie - Daniel Sprong 

Vince Dunn - Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak - Justin Schultz
Carson Soucy - Will Borgen

THE SCHEDULE

That's a wrap on this road trip. Sunday is a travel day then the Penguins are back to practicing in Cranberry on Monday at noon. Next game is Tuesday at home against the Bruins, followed by a game in Buffalo on Wednesday.

THE CONTENT

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