The Pittsburgh Penguins went into their matchup with the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday hoping to build on the momentum they had from a resounding 5-1 win against the formidable Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
Unfortunately, they did no such thing.
The Penguins lost to the lowly Ducks, 5-1, in a contest where they failed to get anything going and also made a few too many mistakes. Mason McTavish and Alex Killorn scored twice for the Ducks, while Frank Vatrano added a back-breaking goal to make it 4-1 midway through the third period when the Penguins seemed to be getting some momentum back.
Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 29 saves on 33 shots, and forward Michael Bunting scored the lone goal, which was a power play tally during the second period. Forward Bryan Rust was also sustained a lower-body injury during the second period and did not return.
The score suggests something a bit different than what actually played out, however. The Penguins had plenty of chances early on – and throughout the first 40 minutes – to get a few more. A bad bounce off the back wall led to Anaheim’s third goal early on in the third to make it 3-1, and they simply couldn’t find a way to recover after that.
The Penguins have had a nasty habit of putting on a dominant performance and then following it up with a dud this season, and if they want to find their way back in the playoff race, they need to find more consistency in the results.
“Playing the game that we played in L.A. was a good example of how we need to play the game,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “That doesn’t make it easy. It’s tough to play that way. But we need to find a way to do that more consistently.”
Here are a few other notes and observations from this one:
– Rust’s injury – if it’s something that keeps him out of the lineup – is no small thing for the Penguins.
He has four goals and nine points in his last eight games and 14 goals and 30 points in his last 27 games dating back to Nov. 27, when the Penguins turned their fortunes around a bit. He is also the closest player to point-per-game other than Crosby.
Since the holiday break, he, Rickard Rakell, and Sidney Crosby have primarily been responsible for this team’s production. Even though the depth scoring has shown up a bit better recently, he’s still a very important part of their lineup.
The Penguins will probably have a hard time trying to fill that role if he misses any significant amount of time. And if he does, this might just be the instance where we see a young…