PITTSBURGH — Savvy fans put on a lucky jersey and a happy face, but they knew what they were likely in for when they walked down Centre Ave. late Saturday afternoon.
The Penguins were in the second half of a back-to-back, a scenario in which they have won just twice in 11 tries. They had to turn to their third-string goalie. And they had lost to the New Jersey Devils twice already since Christmas.
To no one’s surprise, Pittsburgh indeed lost Saturday, by a 5-2 margin. It was a tough ask for them to get up for this game with such a quick turnaround.
But their bottom six could have done something positive — like, literally anything — to help the Penguins avoid the inevitable Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.
Pittsburgh’s top players, all of them 28 or older, gave all they had on short rest to try to defeat the up-and-coming Devils. But without a single drop of juice from the third and fourth lines, the Penguins couldn’t keep up with the Devils.
This problem, this probable fatal flaw, is nothing new. A lack of quality forward depth was the biggest concern the day training camp opened in September.
The Penguins couldn’t overcome it in their back-to-back losses this weekend.
Jeff Carter, centering one of the NHL’s least effective third lines, took two penalties Saturday and was a minus-2 in Friday’s loss to the New York Islanders.
Brock McGinn has not tallied a point in 22 games. Teddy Blueger last scored on Dec. 6, not counting his goal that got waved off Saturday when he booted it in the net. Josh Archibald has given the Penguins little oomph since returning from injury. Kasperi Kapanen provides little beyond social media chuckles.
Coach Mike Sullivan is still searching for combinations that bring something to the table, whether it be secondary scoring, shutdown defense or even just a little bit of zone time and momentum. Saturday night, Sullivan tried flip-flopping McGinn and Drew O’Connor. But the bottom six was again a big-time liability.
In Sullivan’s defense, he doesn’t have much to work with, especially with Carter very much looking like one of the league’s oldest players and the decision to keep Kapanen, with a $3.2 million cap hit, going as poorly as most predicted.
Danton Heinen has not proved to be a better option. Ryan Poehling is hurt again. And the Penguins have not given another opportunity to Valtteri Puustinen, one of the few talented prospects they have down in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
The March 3 trade deadline looms. But does general manager Ron Hextall have the resources and, more importantly, the desire to do something significant?
All things considered, the Penguins’ energy level was high at the start of the game. The puck dropped about 20 hours after they blew a two-goal lead in a road loss to the Islanders. The rested Devils, meanwhile, last played on Thursday.
Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead with an early power-play goal. Off the rush, Rickard Rakell feathered a pass across the zone to Malkin at the backdoor. For the 14th time in his career, Malkin has buried 20 goals in a season.
If you didn’t watch the game, you can probably guess what happened next.
Yup, the Penguins gave up another goal soon after scoring. This time, it took 80 seconds for the lead to disappear. Chad Ruhwedel lost the puck after he spun into referee Chris Schlenker in the corner. Young Devils forward Dawson Mercer made them pay seconds later, whacking a rebound past Dustin Tokarski.
The Penguins petered out as the first period wore on, especially after they nearly let the Devils score shorthanded. Not even Jason Zucker’s massive hit on Brendan Smith behind the New Jersey net tipped momentum back their way.
In the second period, the Devils carried play at 5-on-5 and scored twice on special teams, leading to boos from one of the season’s loudest home crowds.
Dougie Hamilton put the Devils ahead with a power-play goal 3:47 into the period. He skated into spacious real estate in the slot and blew Nico Hischier’s centering pass by the blocker of Tokarski, who looked to be glued to his goal line.
Hischier scored his shorty about five minutes later, finishing off a give-and-go with Yegor Sharangovich. The Devils got that 2-on-1 after Sidney Crosby sent a blind pass out to the point and Kris Letang misplayed the puck under duress.
That was one of several odd-man rushes the Devils had Saturday, as their 20-something standouts pulled away from the Penguins in open ice.
The Devils continued to pepper Tokarski in the third period. He wasn’t the problem Saturday, but Jesper Bratt’s tally made it four goals on 42 shots against.
Malkin scored a second goal on Vitek Vanecek. But that was too little, too late.
ICE CHIPS
— Brian Dumoulin limped to the dressing room in pain after a third-period collision with Devils forward Jesper Boqvist behind the Penguins net. Boqvist clipped the blue-liner in the back of his right knee. Dumoulin returned to the game.
— Tristan Jarry sat out his ninth straight game. Sullivan said his No. 1 goalie got in another on-ice workout Saturday morning. Sullivan also noted that Jarry has seen outside consultants as he works to return from his upper-body injury.
— Jan Rutta, Mark Friedman and Ryan Poehling were sidelined again due to their injuries. All three players skated on an individual basis Saturday morning.
— John Marino, now playing defense for the Devils, returned to PPG Paints Arena for the first time since Pittsburgh traded him to New Jersey last offseason. Marino took the first-period penalty that preceded Malkin’s power-play goal.
COMING UP
Penguins players will get a scheduled day off Sunday. They will be back in action Monday at 7 p.m., when they host the Islanders at PPG Paints Arena.
