WHAT HAPPENED:
All good things must come to an end.
The Penguins saw their win streak end at five games with a wild 7-5 setback to the Bruins on Saturday at TD Garden.
Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Jared McCann, Mark Jankowski and Cody Ceci got on the board for Pittsburgh. Brad Marchand earned a hat trick, David Pastrnak tallied twice and Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci also scored for Boston.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT:
The Penguins coaching staff has been talking a lot with their team over the last few weeks about how to get consistent results. It starts with a compete level, and then it's attention to detail on top of that.
Today, the Penguins had plenty of the former, but not so much the latter - particularly in the second period of play. And it resulted in allowing a season-high seven goals against after the Penguins entered the contest having given up two or less goals in 12 of their last 14 games.
"It's such a game of emotion and it's just a human element of sports," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "Sometimes it gets away from you. It did tonight for us. We just got to make sure we learn from it and focus on the moment.
"I think that's the important thing, making sure you concern yourself with that shift right in front of you and pay attention to the details associated with how we're trying to play the game. I think if we do that, we tend to be stingier defensively."
The afternoon started so innocently, with a relatively uneventful first period that ended with the Penguins taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. When the teams came back for the second, that's where it got chaotic.
The teams went back and forth, with the Bruins taking a 5-3 lead into the second intermission. The details associated with defending - like playing hard in front of their net, blocking shots and managing the puck - got away from them, and it resulted in quality chances against that Boston capitalized on.
"Like I said to the players after the game, the coaching staff - we recognize it's certainly not a lack of effort on the players' part," Sullivan said. "We recognize how hard we're competing out there and we're playing against a good hockey team. Sometimes the mistakes that are made are mistakes of enthusiasm. We're trying to do the right things. Sometimes we're trying to do a little bit too much and we get ourselves in trouble. We've got to make sure that we keep the game simple."
On a positive note, the Penguins' trademark resiliency was on display for the third, as they got an early goal from Ceci to cut the deficit to 5-4.
Pittsburgh then pulled Casey DeSmith for the extra attacker, and with the net empty, Kris Letang was forced to take a penalty to prevent a goal, going to the box at the 17:49 mark. The Penguins could have hung their heads and chalked it up at that point. Instead, Crosby made it 6-5 with his first shorthanded goal since Nov. 27, 2010 - with over a minute left to play.
While the Bruins did eventually get that empty-netter to ice the victory, Guentzel said he loved the compete from his group.
"We weren't out of it," Guentzel said. "We've been in this situation before. We know we can come back from that. All we needed was to get that first one and see what happened from there. We were close. The third period, we had chances and were there. So I think for us, we can take some positives out of it.'
OTHER THOUGHTS, MUSINGS AND OBSERVATIONS
- DeSmith had been absolutely dominant as of late heading into this game, posting a 9-3 record, 1.84 goals-against average and .933 save percentage included amongst some of his dazzling stats. And while the afternoon didn't go as planned, the blame for this one certainly doesn't lay on his shoulders.
"I think it's a tough one to assess," Sullivan said. "I do think the quality of the chances that they scored on were high quality. And so from that standpoint, our team defense in front of Case needs to be better. And so, it's just a tough one to assess. Case has been really good for us in there. He's making timely saves. He's battling hard. We recognize that."
- Jankowski had a goal and an assist as the Penguins continue getting contributions from all over their lineup.
"The depth of our team is a strength," he said. "Obviously we have some of the best firepower in the game and then our depth is another strength of our team there. So being able to contribute on both ends of the puck, it's huge for our team. I think any team that wants to go deep and make a run has to have to rely on that depth. For the coach to be able to put out any line in any situation, whether it's offensively or defensively, I think that's huge for our team."
- The power play keeps producing, as they now have six goals in the last five games.
McCann has been a huge catalyst for that, as the forward has three of those goals since being added to the top unit with Evgeni Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen both out of the lineup.
"I just think he brings a little bit of a different dimension," Sullivan said. "He's such a threat with his shooting ability and his ability to score goals. I think it presents a different look for our power play. He's a real good power play guy. I think that's one of Jared's strengths. We've used him there on occasion over the last couple of years since we've had him depending on who we've had in our lineup, but that is certainly one of Jared's strengths and I just think it changes the look a little bit from a threat standpoint."
Today, he finished off what was an absolutely beautiful passing play that started in the Penguins' own end. All five players touched the puck as they moved it beautifully up the ice, capped off by McCann burying it past Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak.
- During the most recent episode of In the Room, after Guentzel was stopped during a shootout attempt at practice, the forward could be heard joking, "No more Jake Shakes."
In actuality, the Jake's Shakes - which are half off at the Milkshake Factory the day after he scores a goal (available on Monday because the store is closed on Easter) - have been absolutely flowing so far this season. He scored for a second straight game for his team-leading 16th tally of the season in 38 games played.
What's been so remarkable is the consistency he's had all season long. He hasn't gone more than two games without getting a point, and that's only happened twice. Entering the year, Guentzel said that was his biggest goal, and he's certainly found it.
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