PITTSBURGH — After Tuesday’s morning skate at PPG Paints Arena, Sidney Crosby spoke candidly about the Penguins’ plight, having sunk to the Metropolitan Division cellar.
“We feel like we’ve got to find some desperation and urgency,” Crosby said.
It would probably be helpful if the Penguins could discover some goals, too.
The Penguins would muster only one against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night, losing 2-1, at PPG Paints Arena. They have now lost eight of their last 10.
Dustin Tokarski, a former Penguins minor-leaguer, made 45 saves for the visitors. His sprawling save on Jake Guentzel with 21 seconds left sealed the outcome.
Crosby acknowledged before the game that the Penguins, who are now as close to full strength as they have been all season, needed to start winning games.
“We’ve been fighting here since Game 1, whether it be injuries or the virus. So I think there’s excitement knowing that we’ve got a full group,” Crosby said. “But we also know we have some work to do. It’s not all going to come back in one game but we know that we’ve got to start grabbing some points here.”
The Penguins, after losing Tuesday, now have just 18 goals in regulation over their last 10 games. Only twice over that span did they score more than two.
Their slumping power play has something to do with that. Before breaking through in the third period Thursday, they went eight games and 28 opportunities without a power-play goal. That scoreless stretch was one of only eight times in franchise history that the Penguins went eight-plus games without getting one.
The Penguins got a few decent looks on their first power play, including a back-door try that Bryan Rust couldn’t chip in. They had just two total shots on their next two. Finally, with the Penguins down 2-0 in the third, the hockey gods threw them a bone by letting a wayward pass attempt bounce in off Guentzel’s skate.
Guentzel, who started the season slow after a stint on the COVID list, has scored in back-to-back games and has buried four goals in seven games in November.
With Crosby back and the Penguins looking to generate more offense throughout their lineup, Mike Sullivan shook up his bottom six. Brian Boyle was scratched. Dominik Simon played for the first time since Nov. 4. And Evan Rodrigues centered a new-look line that had Simon and Danton Heinen on his wings.
Well, that was until Sullivan shuffled his lines again, likely looking for a spark.
The peripheral numbers suggested that the Penguins were the better team, with significantly more offensive-zone possession time, shots from the slot and scoring chances off the rush, per Sportlogiq. They totally dominated the third period. They had the first 15 shots in that period before the Sabres got one to Tristan Jarry.
But Tokarski’s sparkling performance ensured a Sabres win on the scoreboard.
The Sabres scored both of their goals on Jarry during the second period.
The Penguins got a 2-on-1 on the first shift of the second period. But after Simon whiffed on his one-timer, the Sabres scored at the other end. With two bodies in front of him, Jarry was unable to track Colin Miller’s shot from the point.
They haven’t won any of the nine games in which they gave up the first goal.
Midway through the second period, with the Penguins running around and Chad Ruhwedel left alone in front to defend a pair of Sabres players, Kyle Okposo tapped Zemgus Girgenson’s pass between Jarry’s pads to push the score to 2-0.
Despite that push from the Penguins in the third period, which included a Teddy Blueger breakaway that Tokarski fought off, the Sabres lead would hold up.
Given the stakes and the opponent, it was a deflating loss for the Penguins.
After a strong start, the Sabres entering Tuesday had lost six of their seven games since Halloween. They also dropped franchise player Jack Eichel, that soap opera ending two weeks ago when they traded the disgruntled center to Vegas. They are now back in a familiar spot – near the bottom of the East standings.
Still, Rodrigues, the former Sabres forward, warned beforehand that the Penguins had to be careful against a young Buffalo squad willing to trade chances.
“They’re playing with a little bit of a free spirit,” Rodrigues said. “They’re dangerous off the rush. They’re playing with confidence. And they’re making plays; they’re not just chipping pucks in and going to work. … We have to be sound defensively so we don’t give them anything more than what they create on their own.”
The Penguins didn’t give the Sabres many chances. But the visitors capitalized on a couple of them against Jarry, back in goal after giving up six goals Sunday.
The Penguins will hit the road Wednesday for a three-game trip through Canada. That begins Thursday in Montreal with a matchup against the Canadiens.
