DESPERATION POINT
Defensive lapses coming at the worst time
It had been Alex Nedeljkovic’s net for 11 games. Now, it might be Tristan Jarry’s. But based on the way the Penguins have played in front of either netminder the past four contests, it won’t particularly matter who is between the pipes for their final two games of the regular season.
After a 6-4 loss to the Boston Bruins dropped the Penguins’ playoff chances down to 21%, per Money Puck, there was plenty of blame being shouldered by skaters for the latest defensive collapse.
Saturday’s showing resulted in Nedeljkovic being pulled early for the first time during his run of 11 consecutive starts after taking over the net from Jarry on March 24. He could have exited stage left much earlier, too, had the Bruins not rung three posts in the first 28 minutes of the game.
Bryan Rust was frustrated by the quantity of slot chances allowed, with 19 of the Bruins’ 31 shots on net coming from that area, per Sportlogiq. Lars Eller was in no mood to dissect details, bluntly noting the Penguins let in too many goals.
Mike Sullivan simply said the Penguins didn’t make Boston work hard enough for the six it netted. Sidney Crosby sided with his coach, lamenting the team’s defensive performance that resulted in a whopping 24 high-danger scoring chances for the Bruins.
“We can’t give up the quality of chances we’re giving up and expect to ... get points,” the captain said. “We just gotta be a little more detailed.”
It hasn’t helped the Penguins’ cause that in each of Nedeljkovic’s last four starts, their opponents have scored more goals than expected at 5-on-5. While his save percentages on slot and rush changes have both trended downward recently, Nedeljkovic has also bailed the team out quite a bit during its current 7-1-3 run.
His wins in back-to-back games against the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils to start April were among his most valiant efforts.
“He’s been huge,” Drew O’Connor said of Nedeljkovic. “He’s been the reason we’ve been winning games for the most part.”
Eventually, however, Nedeljkovic’s dam was bound to burst, and it has in the form of the Penguins giving up at least four goals in three of their last four games, including 11 in their past two.
“It’s definitely not on the goalies,” O’Connor said. “It’s on us. We’re giving them looks. It’s definitely something we have to clean up.”
After a porous March in which only the San Jose Sharks averaged giving up more goals per game, the Penguins have turned a corner with surrendering odd-man rushes,
usually a barometer for how the team is faring defensively during Sullivan’s tenure.
The Bruins only generated five on Saturday; meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets produced 16 of them on March 28 in a narrow Penguins win.
“When we try to limit oddman rushes and make that a focus, you notice it in our games,” O’Connor said. “In those games where we make it a priority, I think you’ve seen it.”
Rather than look at advanced stats, though, Marcus Pettersson suggested it’s the urgency of a narrow race for the Eastern Conference’s final spot that’s causing the Penguins’ latest defensive lapses.
“Maybe we lose our heads a little bit and give the other team some easy looks, when we go chasing,” Pettersson said. “I feel like everybody wants it so much we go chasing a couple plays you shouldn’t. We’ve got to keep our heads cool.”
Pettersson coined some of Boston’s chances as “free looks.”
On Jake DeBrusk’s goal, which doubled as the game’s first, both Pettersson and Reilly Smith honed in on the Bruins’ Andrew Peeke.
The duo’s collective charge left DeBrusk all alone in front of Nedeljkovic, allowing the Boston forward to jam a loose puck through the netminder’s five hole and give the Bruins a lead they never surrendered.
“I think that was one of those instances where we both want it so much,” Pettersson said. “And we gave them a free opportunity by leaving a guy alone in front.”
Another example of a freebie was Brad Marchand’s shorthanded goal on a breakaway that was also the first shot Jarry faced in a live game in nearly three weeks.
“He gets put in, first shot he gets is a breakaway,” O’Connor said. “It’s stuff that can’t happen.”
In addition to eliminating such critical errors, O’Connor thinks the Penguins should prioritize defending the net front.
There’s no doubt a laundry list of areas to address for the Penguins, whose defensive struggles have been covered to varying degrees by both Jarry and Nedeljkovic this season.
It’s unclear which goalie Sullivan will give the nod to Monday against the Nashville Predators, another must-win game for the Penguins before they head out to Long Island for the season finale against the New York Islanders.
Sullivan’s decision is hardly an irrelevant one.
After all, whoever starts in goal might have to deal with an emotionally charged Penguins team willing to play risky hockey to get back in the playoffs.
“We know we can’t leave anything on the ice,” Pettersson said. “It’s just tough when you start chasing games, down two in the second there, down three for a while, too. It’s tough when you’re chasing games.”