RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Penguins might just make it back to the postseason this year. The way they played on their five-game winning streak to open the month of November showed that they're capable of that much.
All of that -- literally all of it -- becomes irrelevant if they can't win against a top Metropolitan Division opponent.
For a couple of years now, the Rangers, Devils and Hurricanes have given the Penguins consistent trouble, and that continued with a 4-2 loss to the latter Saturday night at PNC Arena.
What is it about this matchup?
"That's the first time we played them this year," Bryan Rust said. "I guess tonight we didn't score more goals than them. Last year was a different story."
Right. Yes, this was the first meeting this season. And despite all the roster turnover in the offseason and the new faces in the locker room, this first meeting carried strong feelings of déjà vu. The story had different characters, but it ended just the same.
The Penguins lost all four games they played against the Hurricanes last season -- two in overtime, two in regulation. All were one-goal games. The last meeting was back on Jan. 14, a 2-1 loss on the road. The story of that game was the "disconnected" power play that went 1-for-6, with the one goal being a bounce off a misplay by the Carolina goaltender that night, Frederik Andersen.
The Penguins didn't get quite as many power plays in this game -- only two -- and certainly no puck luck in the form of the opposing goaltender banking a shot off one of their own guys and into the net, but the result was the same: A disconnected power play, and two big blown opportunities in a tight game.
The Penguins mustered two unblocked shot attempts -- only one of which actually made it to the net and registered as a shot on goal -- in those four minutes on the man advantage. Those measly attempt and shot totals are identical to what the Penguins managed to get short-handed in this loss, and the short-handed chances might have actually been better, with both Rust and Noel Acciari managing to get short-handed breakaways on separate kills. Rust hit a post, Acciari got stopped.
"The power play ends up being the difference," Sidney Crosby said. "Our power play's got to be better, at least give us some momentum. They were able to get some pretty routine kills. ... We've just got to execute and make better plays when they're pressuring us. We didn't do that tonight."
Crosby was the only one to beat Antti Raanta tonight -- capitalizing on a bouncing puck midway through the first period, then scoring the tying third-period goal when he put in a loose puck in the paint. A Seth Jarvis goal (and another Jarvis goal, this time into an empty net) made Crosby's effort moot.
Crosby and the other players at the top of the lineup needing to put their team on their back has been a worrying trend as of late, even beyond these last two losses. In the Penguins' past six games, they have 19 goals. Crosby, Rust, Jake Guentzel, Erik Karlsson and Evgeni Malkin have been responsible for 16 of them. Only three have come from the rest of the team. That's just not sustainable.
The Penguins were coming off of a 5-2 loss to the Devils on Thursday prior to making this trip. This game was a better effort, and a much better Tristan Jarry. He had 30 saves on 33 shots, and it's hard to put much blame on him for at least the first two goals -- a Sebastian Aho quick release that came from a beautiful pass from across the slot by Teuvo Teravainen, giving Jarry no time to slide over, then a bomb of a shot from Brent Burns.
The Penguins have a pretty challenging schedule to finish the month of November -- a meeting with the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights back home Sunday night, followed by the Rangers, Sabres, Maple Leafs, Predators and Lightning.
Say the Penguins go 5-1 over those next six games, and they manage get depth scoring, solid goaltending, and a clicking power play in those wins -- but their one loss is against a Metropolitan Division opponent that gives them trouble in the Rangers -- then that's still a little concerning, right?
It's been a decade since the NHL changed its playoff format. What used to be a simple process of the No. 1 seed in a conference playing the No. 8 seed, and the No. 2 seed playing the No. 7 seed and so forth, was scrapped in favor of a format that tries to force divisional matchups in the first two rounds, albeit with wild card teams in the mix in each conference.
In speaking with players around the locker room over the last few weeks, there's widespread dislike of the existing format and a desire to return to the No. 1 vs. No. 8 format -- even though it's been so long that many of these players never even experienced the old format.
There haven't been a lot of deep explanations from players as to why they like that old format beyond just liking the "old school" feel. And even if they won't say it, it sure doesn't help that the current format would likely force the Penguins to see some of these teams that have been giving them trouble. If they're even going to make it out of the first round, there's a good chance that they'd have to go through the Hurricanes, Rangers or Devils, and a decent chance that they'd see another one of those teams in the second round. Maybe matching up against a top Atlantic Division team like the Bruins or Panthers would work better in the Penguins' favor.
It's November. The season is hardly a month old. It's obviously far, far too early to be having serious discussions about playoff matchups or seedings. There's a good five months left in the regular-season before those discussions would be meaningful, and the Penguins have to actually get into the playoffs for that to matter.
One loss to the Devils and one loss to the Hurricanes is too small of a sample size to really say that the matchup problems that hurt the Penguins last season are still a trend this season.
But these last two losses haven't exactly done anything to squash those concerns, either. Not at all.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PNC Arena
1. Seth Jarvis, Hurricanes RW
2. Antti Raanta, Hurricanes G
3. Brent Burns, Hurricanes D
THE INJURIES
• Forward Vinnie Hinostroza left this game with a lower-body injury in the second period and did not return.
• Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic has a lower-body injury. He is on long-term injured reserve and is eligible to return Sunday against the Golden Knights. He was sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning stint and played in Friday's game but was not dressed Saturday night, and appears to be back on his way to Pittsburgh.
• Defenseman John Ludvig is recovering from a concussion sustained in his NHL debut. He is on long-term injured reserve and is also eligible to return Sunday. He was sent to Wilkes-Barre on a conditioning stint as well, and played both Friday and Saturday. His return doesn't appear quite as imminent.
• Defenseman Will Butcher is sidelined with an undisclosed injury sustained at the end of last season. He has resumed skating with a group. He will be put on waivers to be sent down to Wilkes-Barre once healthy. He is on season-opening injured reserve, so his cap hit does not count.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Reilly Smith - Evgeni Malkin - Radim Zohorna
Drew O'Connor - Lars Eller - Rickard Rakell
Matt Nieto - Noel Acciari - Vinnie Hinostroza
Ryan Graves - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea - Chad Ruhwedel
And for Rod Bring'Amour's Hurricanes:
Teuvo Teravainen - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Jesper Fast
Michael Bunting - Jack Drury - Stefan Noesen
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Dmitry Orlov - Tony DeAngelo
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins flew home after the game ahead of Sunday's 6:08 p.m. matchup against the Golden Knights. Because of the back-to-back games, there won't be a morning skate, obviously. Mike Sullivan will speak at 4 p.m. as a result. I'll fly home in the morning and cover.
THE CONTENT
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