After falling to Colorado on Friday night, the Penguins faced another perennial contender on Saturday night.
The Vegas Golden Knights, who advanced to the Stanley Cup Final last season, were rested and ready for Pittsburgh and won 5-2.
“It's a tough back-to-back, and I think having to climb back, putting ourselves in that spot, it's a tough spot to be in,” captain Sidney Crosby said.
Yesterday, the Penguins focused on getting off to a strong start after struggling in that area for a stretch. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Avalanche came back. But tonight, the Penguins struggled out of the gate again, falling behind 2-0 just over four minutes in as Vegas’ top line went to work.
They didn’t have an answer for Vegas’ dynamite top line. Jack Eichel came into this game with 16 points in nine games, second only to Connor McDavid, while Mark Stone had scored a hat trick in their 6-2 win over Calgary on Thursday. First, those two set up defenseman Rasmus Andersson, who drifted into open space and buried a feed. Next, they set up defenseman Noah Hanifin, who also capitalized on being left unchecked.
The Penguins had some moments in the offensive zone from there, but Vegas swung momentum their way with their first power play of the night, late in the first period. The Golden Knights continued to move the puck with confidence and precision, finding a goal against a penalty kill that has been one of the bright spots through this current stretch Pittsburgh is mired in.
The Penguins got on the board with a power play of their own just under six minutes into the second period. Ben Kindel won a draw clean and then drew an interference penalty. With Kindel at the end of a shift, Bryan Rust joined the top unit, and they produced a much-needed goal, breaking their 0-for-20 slump. Crosby deflected a shot from Tommy Novak.
However, the Golden Knights went the other way, quickly getting the goal back before finding another to take a 5-1 lead into the second intermission.
"I think they're really smart with the puck," goaltender Sergei Murashov said. "They're managing it, they looking for opportunities for really high-scoring chances, not just throwing at the net. And obviously, high-skill guys."
Around the midway point of that middle frame, Sam Girard went to the Penguins locker room and did not return after being tripped into the end boards. Muse had no update on his status after the game.
The Penguins had some jump in the third period, with Novak’s line finding one goal and nearly potting another.
“I mean, I think we stuck with it. We worked even though we were down three or four there,” Crosby said. “I thought it could’ve been easy to give up a little bit. I thought that everybody stuck with it and tried to push.”
After tonight’s setback, the Penguins have lost three games in a row and are 1-5-1 since beating Philadelphia and Montreal in their first two games of the season. For Muse, the biggest issue is consistency.
“We'll have games and we'll have stretches that I think we're playing the brand of hockey I know we're capable of, but we have to do it on a more consistent basis,” Muse said. “So, we've shown signs, but you can't be two periods or one period. It's got to be more consistent.”
As Crosby said, the mood around the team right now is what you’d expect for a group going through what they're going through.
“Nobody likes to lose. We know there’s areas we got to improve on. We’ve got to fix it quick,” the captain said.
And that ‘we’ encompasses everyone.
“It's on us. It's on us together,” Muse said. “We can't be feeling bad for ourselves. It's on all of us, myself included. So, together as a group, we got to dig in. We have to find consistency in our game. There's a lot coming off of tonight that we have to clean up from a structural standpoint, across the board, a number of things.
"I'm not saying that’s just the players. That's myself included. That's us as a group. We have to stay together. We have to find a way to get out of it.”
