Three Takeaways From Penguins Newest Loss To Blue Jackets

The Pittsburgh Penguins had been 10-0-2 of their final 12 video games in opposition to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nevertheless, the house group scored a flurry of targets within the third interval on Friday night time at Nationwide Area, sending the Penguins packing with a 6-2 loss.

Let’s talk about just a few noticeable issues that handed the Penguins their tenth lack of the season simply 24 hours earlier than internet hosting the San Jose Sharks at PPG Paints Area on Saturday.

Goaltending Continues to be Penguins’ Achilles Heel

The Penguins proceed to guide the NHL in objective in opposition to, and simply when the Montreal Canadiens get near catching them, Pittsburgh’s netminders say, “Maintain my soda pop.” Up to now six video games, Joel Blomqvist, Alex Nedeljkovic, and Tristan Jarry have surrendered 27 targets, which equals 4.50 GAA.

Throughout this stretch, the trio solely gave up two or three targets on one event, routinely getting beat for 4 or extra targets each sport. By way of 19 video games, the Penguins have surrendered no less than 5 targets on six events, accounting for 31% of their season.

Jarry obtained the beginning on Friday night time after a brilliant conditioning stint in the AHL, however sadly, he picked up the place he left off and has seen his GAA balloon to five.36 and his SV% dip right down to .847%. Jarry’s GAA ranks second to final within the NHL earlier than Mads Sogaard (Ottawa), who performed one sport and has a 6.96 GAA.

4 Pictures within the Third Interval Ain’t Gonna Win Hockey Video games

Coming into the sport after a tricky extra time loss on Wednesday, Pittsburgh outshot the Blue Jackets within the opening interval 9-6, then trailed by one 20-19 after 40 minutes. They rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to go into the ultimate interval down by one.

Then, the Penguins disappeared.

Not solely did Columbus web three extra targets to blow open the sport, they dominated the interval with a 19-4 shot benefit. Unusually, the Penguins gave up within the remaining 20 minutes, letting a as soon as inferior opponent take the sport to them, they usually had no solutions, particularly within the web.

Related: Sidney Crosby Career Goal Tracker: How Close Is The Penguins Captain To 600 Goals

Contemplating the veterans on the bench and the teaching employees, registering 4 photographs in an in depth sport that shortly slipped away is inexcusable.

No Run Help

On Friday, the Penguins fell behind 2-0 for the sixth time this season, with just one come-from-behind victory in opposition to the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 16. Nevertheless, they preserve a 1-4-1 file in these conditions.

In the meantime, when leaping out to a 2-0 lead, their file hasn’t salvaged their marketing campaign, because it stands at simply 3-3-0, with these three wins accounting for half of their season complete.

Related: 5 Possible Replacements For Penguins’ Mike Sullivan

Not like the Calgary Flames, who seemingly play one-goal video games each night time, Pittsburgh has solely performed in three one-goal contests this season and misplaced all three. As an alternative, the Penguins are profitable video games by a 2.00 objective margin and shedding them at a 2.92 objective margin.

Apparently, they’ve but to win a sport by greater than three targets and have already misplaced 4 contests by 4 or extra.

Penguins & Blue Jackets Trivia Solutions

How did you rating in our Game Day Trivia quiz? Listed here are the solutions.

1. Sidney Crosby

2. Marc-Andre Fleury

3. Matt Murray

4. Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel

5. Jordan Staal

6. Robert Lang

7. Patrick Lalime

8. Jack Johnson

9. Tyler Wright

10. James Neal