Blue line an easy mark
Undermanned unit no match for Boston as come-from-behind point streak ends at five games
BOSTON — Amid Jim Rutherford’s unexpected resignation as general manager and all the questions that surrounded the front office, a lingering question on the ice went unanswered and overlooked.
What ever happened to Brian Dumoulin?
Before Thursday night’s game, coach Mike Sullivan said the Penguins’ top left-handed defenseman will be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. And if there was any question what that might mean, the impact of that injury was immediately felt.
In a 4-1 loss to the Bruins, a depleted Penguins defensive corps made its miscues. Collectively, as a group of five, the Penguins didn’t defend well enough to beat last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners. And the Bruins proved why they’re statistically one of the NHL’s stingiest defensive teams, ending the Penguins’ come-from-behind point streak at five games while holding them to just three total goals in the two-game series.
“We’ve got to play the game the right way,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got to defend when it’s called upon and not just try to outscore teams. You’ve got to be harder to play against if we’re going to find success consistently. We weren’t hard to play against tonight.”
With all four of the lefties from the Game 1 roster injured, the left side of the blue line featured a rookie skating in just his third NHL game (Pierre-Olivier Joseph), a 30year-old career minor leaguer who hadn’t made an NHL start in seven years (Kevin Czuczman) and John Marino, a sophomore righty whom the Penguins are putting in the unenviable position of playing on his off side.
The Penguins (4-3-1) anticipated Joseph would be in the NHL at some point this year. Maybe just not on the top pairing next to Kris Letang eight games into the season.
Defensive depth took center stage early on both sides of the ice. Just over six minutes into the first period, Czuczman tried to break up Boston’s centering pass in front of the blue paint. Instead, he batted it directly to Chris Wagner in the high slot. Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry had no chance.
The Penguins defensive corps showed up again in the first period, but this time on the other end of the ice. Cody Ceci, a player whom Rutherford was highly criticized for signing this offseason due to his historically poor analytics, ripped a wrister from the high slot to tie the score at 1-1. Ceci was scratched for three consecutive games earlier this season, but earned a more regular role, in part, due to the injuries on the opposite side.
“It’s tough having that many injuries on the back end,” Ceci said. “A lot of core is out. It gives some opportunities to some other guys.”
The Bruins (5-1-1) reclaimed the lead with just over a minute left in the first period thanks to some nifty stickhandling and about four fortunate bounces. Anders Bjork’s shot pinballed off Teddy Blueger’s backside, changed direction again in front when Czuczman was shoved down and then finally banked off Sean Kuraly and past Jarry.
Once again, the Penguins went into the dressing room facing a deficit.
In the second period, the Penguins were building momentum and racking up offensive zone time. In the defensive zone, however, they lost track of their assignments, leaving two Bruins alone in front and only Letang to defend. Boston captain Patrice Bergeron, who isn’t a good guy to forget about, buried his point-blank attempt to extend the Bruins lead to two goals.
The Penguins have found comfort in playing from behind this season. They rallied to earn points in each of their previous five games despite facing deficits in all of them in the second period or later.
Not this time.
“It’s frustrating,” Blueger said. “It’s something we have to figure out pretty quick. The longer this goes on, the harder and harder it’s going to be to win games. Obviously, with the shortened season, we can’t really afford to fall far behind.”
The Bruins entered the game with the third-stingiest defense (2.0 goals-against per game), and netminder Jaroslav Halak entered the game fourth in the league with a 1.44 goals-against average. Sullivan said the Penguins need to add more simplicity to their game against a team like Boston.
“I don’t think we’re putting nearly enough pucks in play that give our guys opportunities for next-play chances, whether it be off a rebound or a deflection and things of that nature,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got to go low-to-high and look to shoot the puck and then we’ve got to get inside. We didn’t do that nearly enough.”
The Penguins defensive corps, indirectly, had a hand in the Bruins extending their lead to 4-1 less than two minutes into the third period. Marino, who largely played a strong game on his off side, committed an interference penalty. The Bruins capitalized on the power play when Bergeron buried his second goal of the game.
The Penguins are now midway through a fourgame road trip with one point in hand from Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Bruins. They begin a twogame series against the New York Rangers at 7 p.m. Saturday in Madison Square Garden.
“We see Boston, they’re faster, they’re hungrier,” Evgeni Malkin said. “They win every battle in [the] corner. We need to look [in] the mirror and fight every shift. It’s not a pretty game right now.”