Tepid Penguins Boiled in Blueshirt Oil

During his post-game interview, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan described his team’s effort during last night’s 4-2 loss to the Rangers as “in-between.” Which is another way of saying we were lukewarm or even tepid.

Feisty winger Jason Zucker, one of the few Pens who didn’t fit that description, was far less charitable. “I thought we made it a pretty easy game.”

Ouch…but true. Especially during a somnambulant first period that saw our hosts outshoot us, 12-7, while attempting nearly twice as many shots (26-14).

While hardly anything good can come out of a largely uninspired loss to a divisional foe in March, I can report one positive. We lost the game but found our goalie.

Left largely to fend for himself for huge swaths of time, Tristan Jarry rose to the occasion. Moving more fluidly and freely than at any time in recent memory, he made a passel of big saves to keep us in the hunt, including first-period stops on Barclay Goodrow and Artemi Panarin that prevented the Rangers from breaking the game wide open.

Displaying none of the riveting intensity that marked our recent victory over the Rangers, the sleepwalking Pens ceded plenty of ice during the early stages and the New Yorkers took full advantage.

Continue reading Tepid Penguins Boiled in Blueshirt Oil at Pittsburgh Penguins - PenguinPoop Blog.