For one of the few times since he took over as Penguins coach, Mike Sullivan spoke and his players didn't respond.
"We just have to be ready to refocus our energy and reinvest ourselves into this series," Sullivan said of his preaching to his team before Game 1 Saturday night of the Eastern Conference final against the Ottawa Senators. "We can't dwell on the past. We've got to turn the page ... It always starts with an attitude and a mindset. We can't ease into this. We've got to make sure that we're ready to play from the drop of the puck."
The Penguins were not ready, the result a hurtful 2-1 loss at PPG Paints Arena on Bobby Ryan's goal at 4:59 of overtime. It is the first time they lost consecutive home playoff games during the Sullivan era. They were skunked by the Washington Capitals in Game 6 of the previous series.
This defeat wasn't all that unpredictable _ and not just because the Senators came in with a 5-1 overtime record in these playoffs. The Penguins were coming off their tense 2-0 win against the Capitals in Game 7 in Washington. It is hard to get right back up emotionally for the start of the next series despite the best of intentions.
"Maybe a little bit," Matt Cullen said when asked if the Penguins were just a bit off at the start. "It's a challenge. It's something we talked about a lot before the game. I don't think the first (period) was our best. I don't think it was awful. They played a real patient road game. We didn't capitalize on our opportunities the way we would have liked to and expect to."
The same thing happened to the Penguins last season after they eliminated the Capitals in the second round. They played a flat Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final at home against Tampa Bay and lost, 3-1.
You probably remember the Penguins recovered to win not only the series but also the Stanley Cup.
That is the plan again this season.
"Emotionally, we're fine," Evgeni Malkin said.
"It's the playoffs. It's adversity. It's not going to be easy," Cullen said.
"There are a lot of things we need to do better. This is a group that has bounced back every time we hit a bump in the road. I would expect us to bounce back again."
Part of the problem Saturday night was bad puck luck. A little more than 3 minutes in, Jake Guentzel's re-direct of a Ron Hainsey shot clanged off the crossbar behind Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson. Two-plus minutes after that, Patric Hornqvist fired a shot that hit the left post.
Close, right?
The problem is close doesn't count.
The Penguins' power play let the team down, finishing 0 for 5. They couldn't beat Anderson despite 7:54 of 5-on-4 time plus another 45 seconds of 5-on-3 time during the first period. They managed 10 power-play shots but none with the two-man advantage.
"The movement wasn't there," Sullivan said. "The passes weren't crisp."
It was a surprisingly quiet night for Sidney Crosby, who normally thrives against the Senators. He came in with 33 playoff points against them, the most of any player. But this game? Nothing. Just two harmless shots on net.
Anderson had a lot to do with stopping the Penguins' normally high-powered offense. He was sharp all night, beaten only when Malkin deflected a pass shot by Chris Kunitz past him with 5:35 left in the game. His best save probably came midway through the second period when he grabbed a deflection by Hornqvist of a shot by Justin Schultz. He made another superb save when he stopped Olli Maatta short-handed early in the third period. He got a little late help when Phil Kessel's shot hit the crossbar with fewer than 3 minutes left in regulation.
It was quite a turnaround for Anderson against the Penguins. In his previous 17 starts against them, including playoffs, he was 3-11-2 with one no-decision, a 3.69 goals-against average and an .898 save percentage. He was pulled in three of his previous 11 starts against the Penguins.
Sullivan thought the Penguins made things a little too easy on Anderson.
"I thought we had a number of opportunities to put the puck on the net and then go to the net. We've got to make it harder on our opponent to defend us by getting more pucks in the scoring area. That's the hardest area of the rink to defend. We were looking for the next play. Sometimes, that next play never materializes."
Marc-Andre Fleury _ the star of the Capitals series and the Penguins' leading candidate to this point for the Conn Smythe trophy as postseason MVP _ was almost as good as Anderson. He had little chance to stop Jean-Gabriel Pageau's one-timer after a pass by Bobby Ryan at 14:32 of the first period. The goal was set up by a Brian Dumoulin turnover behind the Penguins' net.
It took until overtime for Fleury to be beaten again. Ryan got behind Maatta and Bryan Rust, cruised in alone on Fleury and beat him with a backhander.
"We've got to make sure that we don't beat ourselves," Sullivan said. "I thought the goals that we gave up, both of them (Saturday), were very avoidable. We have to force them to work harder for those types of opportunities."
Game 2 is Monday night at PPG Paints Arena.
The guess here is the refocused _ the really refocused _ Penguins will be a lot better.
