PITTSBURGH _ A post on one end of the ice. A penalty on the other.
That's how quickly Sunday afternoon's game turned at PPG Paints Arena, when the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Penguins, 6-2.
During the second period, recent acquisition Evan Rodrigues _ who was one of the best Penguins on the ice for a good portion of the game, drawing three penalties himself _ collected a pass from Brandon Tanev and ripped it off the iron. But after nearly giving the Penguins a one-goal lead during a short-handed situation, he committed a holding penalty.
Carolina defenseman Jake Gardiner took advantage, blasting a shot over goalie Tristan Jarry's right shoulder to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead. But instead responding in the third period, the Penguins came completely unhinged. Before long, the rout was on.
The Penguins (39-23-6) have now lost eight of their last 10 games, including back-to-back games against Metropolitan Division teams. Even the wins left something to be desired. One came against the lowly Ottawa Senators, who would be the worst team in the East if not for the historic ineptitude of the Detroit Red Wings. The other was against the Buffalo Sabres in a game that may have turned out much differently if not for Matt Murray's impressive second period.
The Penguins remain in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 84 points.
At least for now, with 14 games left, a playoff berth isn't in serious trouble. However, the way the Penguins performance has regressed _ about as quickly and unexpectedly as the game changed on Sunday _ they need to get it together if they hope to have any chance to do anything in the playoffs.
The game started promisingly enough. Recent acquisition Patrick Marleau gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead mid-way through the first period.
When the Penguins acquired 40-year-old forward from the San Jose Sharks, general manager Jim Rutherford felt confident that even though the veteran had lots of wear on his tires, he still had the wheels to fit into Mike Sullivan's up-tempo system. Marleau showed his speed and scoring touch on the play. Conor Sheary, another deadline-day acquisition, whipped a passed to Marleau just as he was crossing the offensive blue line. Marleau skated through three Canes and backhanded the puck past goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.
The lead was short-lived. Just 33 seconds later, Morgan Geekie redirected Jake Gardiner's shot past Jarry.
The Penguins regained the lead, 2-1, in the final minutes of the second period. After squandering a 5-on-3 during Saturday's loss to the Capitals, the Penguins took advantage about 24 hours later. Evgeni Malkin ripped a shot through a Patric Hornqvist screen to send the Penguins to the first intermission with a 2-1 lead.
But missed opportunities with the man-advantage loomed larger than the goal.
The Hurricanes entered the game with the NHL's fourth-best penalty-killing unit, snuffing out 83.5% of opponents' opportunities. While the Canes committed seven penalties, three of them drawn by Rodrigues, that Malkin goal was the only one that ended up in the back of their net.
The Hurricanes out-scored the Penguins 5-0 over the final two periods to capture the victory.
The Penguins have Monday off for a travel day. They will return to action on Tuesday when they begin a three-game road trip in New Jersey Devils.
