Blackhawks race past injury-ravaged lineup
The Blackhawks seemed to capitalize on nearly every opportunity they got, especially in the first 20 minutes. It wasn’t just one flaw in the Penguins’ defensive strategy, either. Chicago scored on odd-man rushes, defensive-zone breakdowns and neutral- zone turnovers.
“You look at the types of goals they scored and how they scored them, it was different ways,” Sullivan said. “It wasn’t the same way. It wasn’t like we turned the puck over and they counterattacked every time. But that was part of it."
Winger Bryan Rust — who scored the lone Penguins goal in the third period, long after the game was decided— attributed the loss, and the Penguins’ recent struggles, partially due to a lack of confidence on the ice.
“We might be overthinking a play or two here and there, which might end up in the back of the net or might hurt us a little bit,” Rust said.
“We’ve just got to find a way to get our confidence back here. I think that just means kind of keeping the game a little more simple, keep trying to work hard.”
Sullivan agreed, to an extent, but also cautioned that confidence can be fickle.
“I think confidence is a fleeting thing,” Sullivan said. “You can get it back just as fast as you lose it.
“We’re obviously disappointed in the result tonight, but the belief we have in this group of players, that’s unwavering with our coaching staff, and I believe that’s unwavering in our dressing room.”
And for as much as the perception may be that the Penguins’ recent run of injuries finally has caught up with them, that’s something Sullivan never would admit..
“We understand that some of the guys we have out of our lineup are difficult to replace,” Sullivan said. “They’re good players, and we understand that. But we also believe we have what it takes to win. That’s where our focus needs to be.”
The Penguins now have six remaining regular-season games — starting Friday night in New York against the Rangers — to try and right the ship before the playoffs begin in two weeks.
With these past few losses, it has become increasingly likely they will start the postseason on the road in Columbus, as the Blue Jackets have a twopoint lead in the standings and a game in hand on the Penguins.
That, though, is still a long way off. The more immediate concern will be getting healthy as well as correcting the mistakes of Wednesday night and the past few games. Otherwise, the Penguins' postseason stint could be a short one.
“Obviousl, we’re not happy with this one,” defenseman Ian Cole said. “Sooner or later, we need to be clicking on all cylinders going into playoffs. I don’t think that’s a secret.”