Penguin panic?
Mike Sullivan’s voice was calm as he urged patience and understanding, qualities that tend to be in short supply around the NHL when the calendar flips to March and the number of regular-season games dwindles.
They’re traits the Pittsburgh Penguins coach hasn’t had to rely on much during his four-plus years on the bench, which include back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. Yet with the Penguins mired in their longest losing streak since 2012 — a six-game skid that’s rendered their appearance at the top of the Metropolitan Division two weeks ago a mere cameo — the typically fiery Sullivan has taken a more muted approach.
“There’s no easy stretch,” Sullivan said Monday. “That’s just the nature of the league.”
It’s a nature the Penguins have largely been immune to for years. Yet they have looked decidedly vulnerable while getting outscored 24-8 against a schedule littered with teams basically playing out the season. A winless road swing through California last week culminated with a 5-0 loss to San Jose that led captain Sidney Crosby to place the blame squarely on his shoulders.
Though Crosby — who has just one point since a 5-2 romp over Toronto on Feb. 18 pushed Pittsburgh into first place in the Metropolitan — hasn’t quite looked like himself of late, neither has the 19 other guys in the lineup on a given night. Asked if there was any one common thread for a swoon no one saw coming, Crosby shrugged.
“It’s hard to point the finger at one specific thing, but I think putting the puck in the net a little more would give us some breathing room,” he said.
Of course, for the puck to go into the net, the Penguins actually need to shoot it. It’s something one of the league’s most talented offensive teams has struggled to do lately. While on the surface Pittsburgh’s average of 33 shots per game during the losing streak looks healthy, the reality is that the Penguins have fallen into the habit of trying to make the pretty play instead of the right one.
“Sometimes the ESPN highlight reel kind of gets in your mind,” forward Jared McCann said. “But I feel like sometimes, especially with the way things are going right now, we’ve just got to throw pucks on net. We’ve got to throw it at a goalie’s feet. We’ve got to make the easy shot, sometimes it’ll go in.”
Oilers 8, Predators 3 — Leon Draisaitl had the first four-goal game of his career and added an assist as the Edmonton Oilers routed the Nashville Predators to sweep the season series.
Connor McDavid scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and had four assists. Kailer Yamamoto and Josh Archibald each had a goal and an assist, and Zack Kassian also scored as Edmonton won its second straight.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse had three assists apiece.
Nashville had dominated Edmonton lately, including 13 straight wins between 2014 and 2018. These aren’t those Oilers, though. Edmonton is second in the Pacific Division and pulled within two points of firstplace Vegas with a game in hand.
Edmonton broke open a tie game by scoring three of five goals in the third in a span of 2:21. McDavid put the Oilers ahead to stay at 4:42, then Draisaitl made it 4-2 just 35 seconds later with his 41st of the season. Kassian finished the flurry at 7:03.
Avalanche 2, Red Wings 1 — Gabriel Landeskog withstood a crunching hit while making a pass that sprung Logan O’Connor for a breakaway goal in the second period, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Detroit Red Wings for their seventh straight victory.
Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Avalanche, who extended a franchise record with their ninth consecutive road win. Anthony Mantha had the only goal for Detroit.
With the score tied at 1, Landeskog was just inside his own blue line when he took a hit from Detroit’s Robby Fabbri. As he was clocked, Landeskog released a pass up the ice to O’Connor, who was behind the defense at the other blue line.
O’Connor went in and beat goalie Jonathan Bernier for his second goal of the season.