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Penguins playoff hopes take hit in home loss to Bruins | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

Penguins playoff hopes take hit in home loss to Bruins

Seth Rorabaugh
Seth Rorabaugh
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Bruins’ Brad Marchand beats Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry for a short-handed goal in the second period Saturday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Michael Bunting is checked by the Bruins’ Andrew Peeke into goaltender Linus Ullmark in the first period Saturday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark makes a save against the Penguins in the first period Saturday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Eric Karlsson kisses his daughter as he is honored for his 1,000th game Saturday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Bruins celebrate Pavel Zacha’s goal in the second period Saturday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Bryan Rust celebrates his goal against the Bruins in the second period Saturday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Bruins’ Jake DeBrusk beats Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic in the second period Saturday.

Despite so many flaws – a squalid power play, haphazard puck management and general ineptitude beyond the bounds of regulation, etc. — the Pittsburgh Penguins surged up the standings for the better part of three weeks and got back into relevancy in regard to postseason contention.

Their resolve was a mighty enough force to break the bounds of gravity created by their shortcomings.

But on Saturday, all of those defects once again became insurmountable and led to the Penguins suffering a blunt 6-4 loss to the Boston Bruins at PPG Paints Arena.

“We played hard,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. “(But) we weren’t especially smart in certain situations.”

One situation that doesn’t look bright for the Penguins as of now is the standings.

The defeat in their 80th game of the season led to the Penguins (37-31-12, 86 points) being vaulted in the Eastern Conference wild card race by the Washington Capitals (38-31-11, 87 points), Detroit Red Wings (39-32-9, 87 points) and Philadelphia Flyers (38-32-11, 87 points).

Entering the day in second place for the wild card, the Penguins finished Saturday in fifth.

As for the Metropolitan Division, the New York Islanders (37-27-16, 90 points) remained in third place of that race.

The Penguins remaining games are a home contest against the Nashville Predators on Monday and an entanglement on the road against the Islanders on Wednesday.

“We have to put it behind us, this loss, (starting) tomorrow,” Penguins forward Lars Eller said. “Win what’s ahead of us. Worry about that then see what happens.”

It’s highly curious as to what will happen in net for the Penguins.

Alex Nedeljkovic, who had started 10 consecutive games and was a leading component of the team’s surge up the standings with a 7-0-3 record, was pulled on Saturday after allowing three goals on 16 shots.

He was replaced by All-Star Tristan Jarry, who had not played since March 24. Jarry was charged with the loss after making 12 saves on 14 shots and saw his record slip to 19-25-4.

Coach Mike Sullivan largely deflected blame from either goaltender.

“This was not an easy game to assess the goaltending when you give up the type of looks that we did,” Sullivan said. “(Nedeljkovic) has given us some great hockey here. He’s battling hard for us. The decision I made was based on just trying to change momentum for our group, see if it could give us a jolt.”

Following a scoreless first period, the Bruins broke the stalemate with a quick burst of offense midway through the second period.

First, forward Jake DeBrusk struck with his 19th goal of the season at the 8:08 mark.

Accepting a pass on the left wing of the offensive zone, Bruins forward Charlie Coyle fed the puck across the ice to the right circle for defenseman Andrew Peeke, who shuffled a forehand shot on net. Nedeljkovic made the initial save but couldn’t cover the rebound, which DeBrusk jabbed in from above the blue paint. Peeke and Coyle had assists.

Only 14 seconds later, forward Pavel Zacha found his 20th goal.

Racing up the left wing into the offensive zone, Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk fired a wrister from the half-wall. Nedeljkovic rejected the shot but spit out a rebound to the hashmarks that Zacha tracked down and cleaned up with a wrister over the goaltender’s glove. Grzelcyk and defenseman Charlie McAvoy claimed assists.

The Penguins responded at 10:27 of the second frame when Rust scored his 28th goal, a new career high.

Off a breakout pass from the defensive zone by Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson, forward Sidney Crosby one-touched the puck from just outside the defensive blue line to the right wing, allowing linemate Drew O’Connor to chug into the offensive zone. Generating an abbreviated two-on-one rush against McAvoy, O’Connor slid a sharp pass to the top of the crease where Rust darted and tapped a backhander by goaltender Linus Ullmark’s right skate. O’Connor and Crosby collaborated on assists.

Undeterred, the Bruins took a 3-1 lead only 68 seconds later via defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk’s sixth goal.

Digging a puck out of a battle on the Penguins’ end boards, Bruins forward David Pastrnak maneuvered toward the left corner then fed a clever pass above the right circle for Shattenkirk. Moving into the circle, Shattenkirk snapped a far-side wrister scorching Nedeljkovic’s blocker. Pastrnak and Zacha had assists.

Nedeljkovic – the team’s undeclared starter since March 24 – headed to the bench.

He dismissed any suggestion he was fatigued after so many consecutive starts.

“No, no, I actually felt fine today,” Nedeljkovic said. “I felt better than I did Thursday night (in a 6-5 overtime home win against the Red Wings). Thought it was a pretty good first period, played pretty well. We didn’t give them much. I don’t know. … I don’t really know how to explain that one.”

It’s difficult to explain what happened — without utilizing vulgarities — when Jarry allowed a short-handed goal on the first shot he faced in the contest at 14:54 of the second period.

After Coyle beat Crosby on a draw in the Bruins’ left circle to open a power-play sequence for the hosts, Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm skated the puck to his own blue line and dumped it down ice. Jarry corralled the puck and attempted to sweep it behind the cage to the left corner for a teammate, only to have Coyle hustle past Karlsson to claim possession. Curling over the left circle, Coyle slid a pass low in the right circle for Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who attacked the cage and slid a wrister through Jarry’s five hole for his 29th goal. The only assist was claimed by Coyle.

It was the 12th short-handed goal the Penguins have allowed this season, matching the Montreal Canadiens for the worst figure in the NHL.

“It’s happened a million different ways,” Sullivan said of his team’s proclivity for allowing opposing offense while on the power play. “But at the end of the day, it boils down to just diligence and being committed to defend.”

The Penguins did convert on that power-play sequence 58 seconds later when forward Michael Bunting scored his 19th goal.

Off a pass from Karlsson, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin galloped up the Bruins’ left wall to the end boards and flicked the puck to the left of the crease where Bunting was stationed. Showing the forehand side of his stick blade, Bunting deflected the puck up on the near side and between Ullmark’s right ribs and his blocker into the cage. Malkin and Karlsson had assists.

An effort worthy of former Penguins forward Jordan Staal by O’Connor led to a short-handed goal 4:32 into the third period.

After McAvoy fumbled a puck at the left point of the offensive zone, Eller chased it down on the near boards, spun to his right and fed a breakout pass to O’Connor hustling through the neutral zone. Chipping and chasing the puck by Marchand, O’Connor created his own breakaway, attacked the net and snapped a wrister by Ullmark’s glove. The only assist went to Eller.

“Incredible goal,” Sullivan boasted. “I thought (O’Connor) had a real inspiring effort tonight. He played really hard. That goal is an example of it. It was a great goal, a nice play. You see his strength, his skating ability and his scoring touch. That was a terrific goal and it gave the whole building energy and the team, as well.”

The Bruins largely dissipated that energy and euthanized any notion of a comeback at 14:10 of the third period when forward Morgan Geekie generated his 17th goal.

Pushing play up the left wing of the offensive zone, Bruins forward Trent Frederic rimmed the puck along the end boards, allowing Bruins forward Jakub Lauko to claim possession near the right corner. As Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea gave chase and vacated the front of the crease, Lauko spun to his right and whipped a pass to the lower rim of the right circle for Geekie, who swatted a forehand shot by a poke check attempt from Penguins forward Reilly Smith and past Jarry’s glove on the near side. Assists went to Lauko and Frederic.

Former Penguins forward Danton Heinen got in on the act with his 17th goal on an empty net at 17:13 of the final frame off an assist from Pastrnak.

Malkin capped the scoring at the 18:39 mark with his 26th goal.

Taking a pass in the Bruins’ high slot, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell backpedaled to the left wall, skated up the boards and slid a backhand pass between the hashmarks for Bunting, who gripped and ripped a wrister. Planted above the crease, Malkin deflected the puck past Ullmark’s glove. Bunting and Rakell had assists.

“Definitely, there was a lot of up and down,” Bunting said. “I thought we competed hard for the first period. A couple of just missed opportunities. And obviously, that short-handed (goal by Marchand) can’t happen.”

In addition to halting the Penguins’ climb in the standings, the result spoiled an evening that opened with jubilation as Karlsson was honored for appearing in his 1,000th career game.

“Hopefully, we have a good day (Sunday),” Karlsson said. “Reenergize and come back on Monday with a full focus on that game and that game only. That’s the mindset we’ve (had) here for a couple of weeks. Hopefully, we can get that back on Monday.”

They have no other choice if they hope to play games past Wednesday.

“We have to,” Crosby said. “We’ve been playing this type of hockey for a while now and we’ve had to put games behind us pretty quickly, so we have to do the same with this one. We’ve got to learn from it.

“We can’t give up the quality of chances we’re giving up and expect to produce and get points. We just got to be a little more detailed.”

Notes:

• The pregame ceremony to recognize Karlsson:

• Rakell (109 points) surpassed forward Maxime Talbot (108) for 86th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Prior to the game, the Penguins assigned forward Vinnie Hinostroza to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

• Penguins rookie defenseman John Ludvig and forward Jesse Puljujarvi were healthy scratches.

• Pastrnak has 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) in 27 career games against the Penguins.

• Geekie has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in seven career games against the Penguins.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.

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Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports
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