Another early goal opens what 'might've been our worst game of year'

ELMONT, N.Y. -- There's been a concerning trend with the Penguins as of late -- their starts to periods.

Too often, they just aren't ready and allow an early goal.

That was the case in the 5-1 loss to the Islanders Tuesday night at UBS Arena. Again.

This time, it was New York captain Anders Lee who opened the scoring just 63 seconds into this meeting, when the Brian Dumoulin-Jan Rutta pairing and the Penguins' second forward line was on the ice. It was a tough look for Dumoulin:

"Right at the start, we got on our heels a bit," Dumoulin told me of the first period. "They came out hard, they were getting pucks in and making us break out against five guys. We were disconnected off the start. Obviously, playing with a lead would be a lot better. We didn't have a good start."

Then it was Mat Barzal who scored 50 seconds into the second period to make it a 2-1 game. It was again the Dumoulin-Rutta pairing on the ice, along with Brock McGinn, Teddy Blueger and Jeff Carter when the bottom-six was in the middle of a line change. 

I asked Mike Sullivan if he could identify anything that has led to this trend of early goals allowed as of late. He said that he couldn't speak to the trend as a whole, but could at least speak to tonight.

"It was just poor execution," he replied. "One of the things we talked about was playing straight ahead early on, simplifying the game. Especially after coming off of a break, our experience tells us that it takes a little bit after having a few days off. We wanted to simplify the game and play straight ahead. We did none of the above."

The problem with those early goals is bigger than any one line, defense pairing, or individual player. In the past, the Penguins have been able to dig themselves out of those holes. Jarry himself has even seemed to benefit from it at times -- he's allowed goals three times within the first 60 seconds of a game in the month of December before tonight. The Penguins have won all of those games, and Jarry posted a .967 save percentage in those three. He's spoken about those early goals leading to more intense concentration from him after they happen.

The Penguins have been lucky to rebound from these instances in the past. But having to do so just isn't sustainable, and the Penguins need to find a way to be ready to start periods.

"It's just a mentality," Carter said of why those early goals have been happening. "We've got to be ready to go. First period, second period, third period, it doesn't matter. Start of periods, end of periods. That's it. You've just got to be ready to go from puck drop."

The Penguins weren't ready to go at all on this night. And they weren't able to recover, either. 

While they at least showed some life in the second half of the first period after an early goal, they weren't able to muster up the same response to that early second-period goal. It was too much. They were outscored 3-0 in the middle frame after Josh Bailey scored and Barzal added another goal, and it wasn't as nearly as evenly-matched as that might suggest. They were outshot 20-4 that period. The third-period was more evenly-matched, but the Penguins just seemed spent and showed no hope of getting back into the game.

"We need to have some pushback," Dumoulin told me of how the team needs to respond to those early goals in periods. "We have to look for little things to build on, especially when things aren't going our way early. Whether that be a big PK, or a power play that gave us momentum. We have to find those little battles that give us juice on the bench and make us rally together and work for each other instead of being a little bit more distant. We need to work for each other a little bit better."

The Penguins have been able to have that pushback in the past. They didn't have it tonight, and the result was what Sullivan said "might've been our worst game of the year."

"I don't have an answer for you," Sullivan said when asked why this game got as bad as it did.

The Penguins need to find the answer, and they need to find it soon. Because this is a trend that can cost the Penguins valuable points in the standings if it continues.

MORE FROM THE GAME

• It was P.O Joseph who scored the tying goal in the first period. He took a long-range shot that initially looked like it may have been redirected by McGinn, but on second look it actually took a bounce off the ice and in:

• The lines were put in a total blender late in the second period. Bryan Rust saw time back on the top line and Rickard Rakell saw time back on the second line, of note. Sullivan was asked if he liked what he saw from the new combinations: "Not really," he said.

• Chad Ruhwedel left the second period with an injury and didn't return. Sullivan said he was being evaluated for an upper-body injury.

• With this game not ending in a win or overtime, Jarry's game point streak ends at 14 games. That's one game shy of Tom Barrasso's run in 1992-93 for the longest by a goaltender in Penguins franchise history. 

• The Penguins had one power play and failed to score (or get a shot on goal, even). That ends their power-play goal streak at 10 games.

• The penalty-kill was 2 for 2. Since Blueger returned Nov. 15, the penalty-kill is operating at a 94.2% success rate and is a net minus-1, allowing three goals and scoring two shorthanded.

• The Islanders pulled out all of the stops to try to build up this rivalry. They showed highlights from the 1993 Game 7 win that eliminated the Penguins that year, and noted lunatic Trevor Gillies was in attendance and featured on the videoboard during a stoppage.

• Reminder that Nick Spaling exists:

• Press box snack update: Lots of thoughts from this one. So there's a soft serve machine in the press box, right? I've been here for every trip the Penguins have made to this building since it opened, and the machine has always been down for maintenance, including tonight. An Islanders writer told me that it's almost never down, and that today was the first game all season in which it wasn't working. Are they conspiring against Penguins reporters? Maybe. Regardless, the cookies here are a solid 9/10 and the soft pretzels are better than the ones in Pittsburgh but not as good as the ones in Philadelphia. There was a decent fruit selection too, plus a fountain soda machine with Coke products. Even with the malfunctioning ice cream machine this place is better than most others, and I give it an A-.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE THREE STARS

As selected at UBS Arena:

1. Mat Barzal, Islanders C
2. Anders Lee, Islanders LW
3. Josh Bailey, Islanders LW

THE INJURIES

• Forward Josh Archibald missed his third game with an undisclosed lower-body injury sustained last Sunday in Raleigh, N.C.. Sullivan said after the morning skate that he did not make the trip to New York and continues to be evaluated.

• Forward Ryan Poehling missed his second game with an undisclosed upper-body injury for which he is still being evaluated. He left the Penguins' game last Tuesday midway though the third period. I rewatched his last shift in that game and it's not clear how he may have been injured or what the injury is. He was a full participant in Tuesday's morning skate.

• Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel left this game in the second period with an upper-body injury. It's not clear how it happened, and he was still being evaluated after the game.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Drew O'Connor - Teddy Blueger - Danton Heinen

Marcus Pettersson - Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin - Jan Rutta
P.O Joseph - Chad Ruhwedel

And for Lane Lambert's Islanders:

Josh Bailey - Mat Barzal - Oliver Wahlstrom
Anders Lee - Brock Nelson - Anthony Beauvillier
Zach Parise - J-G Pageau - Casey Cizikas
Matt Martin - Aatu Raty - Hudson Fasching

Sebastian Aho - Scott Mayfield
Alexander Romanov - Noah Dobson
Parker Wotherspoon - Ryan Pulock

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins are right back at it Wednesday with a 7:38 p.m. faceoff against the Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena. Danny Shirey and Dejan Kovacevic will cover.

THE CONTENT

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