Penguins’ inconsistency makes it impossible to forecast fate
So you think Antonio Brown is unpredictable? He’s a model of consistency compared to the Penguins. We’re 58 games into their season and they have nearly lost as many as they have won. I have no idea what to think about them or expect from them. I think they are good enough to win the Stanley Cup, but I’m not sure they’re good enough to make the playoffs. At this point, I won’t be surprised if either happens.
It was more of the same Saturday afternoon Uptown at PPG Paints Arena.
After beating the Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers fairly easily earlier in the week for a modest twogame winning streak that led us to believe more wins would be ahead, the Penguins stepped up in class and were outclassed for much of the day by the loaded Calgary Flames in a 5-4 loss.
A 5-2 deficit after two periods produced a too-little, toolate finish.
So much for that winning streak.
The Penguins’ inconsistency is maddening.
Matt Murray was spectacular against the Flyers and Oilers, stopping 88 of 90 shots. He was bad enough Saturday to get benched for Casey DeSmith after two periods. No player will determine the Penguins’ fate the rest of the season more than Murray.
The power play, 1-for-21 in the previous 10 games, went 3-for-4. For all intents and purposes, it was 4-for-4, as Jake Guentzel scored a firstperiod goal seconds after a Calgary penalty ended. And the Penguins still lost. Evgeni Malkin slogged through two periods in the same sort of funk that has dogged him all season, giving the puck away four times and at one point losing track of the Flames’ Michael Frolik, who scored an easy goal. Malkin then looked like the old Malkin in the third period, scoring two power-play goals to nearly bring the Penguins all the way back. The team lost for the first time across 14 career regular-season games in which Malkin and Sidney Crosby scored a power-play goal.
Justin Schultz played for the first time since Oct. 13 – he missed 53 games -- and provided a quick spark with a shot that led to Guentzel’s goal. For the first time in a long time, the Penguins were nearly at full strength, minus only Olli Maatta.
And they still lost. Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin have been the team’s best defensive pair all season. They finished a combined minus-5.
Did I mention that the inconsistency is maddening?
“I think it’s just the way the league is. It’s tight,” Crosby said. “You can play good games and not get rewarded. That’s why you can’t have nights where you make it easy on teams. This time of year, they’re all going to be tough games. Today, we did a lot of good things, and it just didn’t happen.”
Mike Sullivan also stressed the positive.
“I thought we played a pretty solid game. That’s what I told our guys afterward. We’ve got to try to build on it.”
Sullivan liked what he saw from his power play, which had irked him to the point of taking Phil Kessel off the first unit against the Flyers. “After we got the first powerplay goal, I think they got a lot of confidence. They had much more composure with the puck. They were the power play that we always expect from them.”
He liked Schultz’s game. “I thought he was terrific. He helps us in so many ways. I thought he made a big difference.”
And he liked what he saw from Malkin, back in the lineup after a one-game suspension for a stick-swinging incident against the Flyers.
“I thought he had some great moments.”
Malkin also liked what he saw from Malkin after owning his turnovers and admitting his fault in losing Frolik.
“Long time,” he said of his first multi-goal game since Oct. 27. “Hopefully, these two goals give me more confidence. Tomorrow, I will feel so much better, for sure.”
The Penguins play the rebuilding, out-of-playoff-contention New York Rangers here Sunday afternoon.
I’m predicting a 5-1 win, but I also wouldn’t be surprised by a 5-1 loss.
I’m not nearly smart enough to figure out these Penguins.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter@RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.