But, there is reason for hope. Twenty minutes worth of reasons.
The Pens fell behind the Senators, 5-1, after two periods of play. The team was unraveling and the wheels were falling off. But rather than pack it in and quit for the final 20 minutes, the Pens fought back.
No, the Pens didn't get the final result they wanted. But Pittsburgh dominated the third period. It outscored (3-1) Ottawa. It outshot (15-7) Ottawa. Most importantly, it outhustled, outhit and outplayed Ottawa.
"I thought our fight in the third period was really encouraging," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "I love this group of players. We have great people and they care. This is all part of it.
"We have to make sure that we build on the positives. We had a lot of good stuff happen in the third period. We fell short, but I think there's plenty of evidence that if we play the game a certain way we can score goals and be hard to play against at the same time."
Despite the effort, the Pens' record fell to 7-8-3 on the season and they remain in the final spot in the Eastern Conference. And that's something with which the team is well aware.
"It was an improvement for us to battle back in the third, but there aren't a lot of moral victories in this league anymore," said center Matt Cullen, who finished with a goal and plus-2 in the game. "We just have to find a way. I think we're better than the way we're playing. The last period showed some fight, but from the drop of the puck we need to have more urgency in our game.
"These are important points for us and you can't keep missing your opportunities."
Defenseman Kris Letang was just as blunt.
"We have to figure it out," he said. "We can't feel sorry for ourselves.
"We are hesitant and lacking confidence. The only way to get out of this is to bury our head and keep working hard, execute the right way."
Pittsburgh is in a deep hole, and it can't climb out of the hole overnight. It's going to take time, effort and patience. It will be a step-by-step process, but the man behind the bench believes it will be done.
"I think it's important that we look at the good things that we do and try to build on them. I think that's the only approach we can take," Sullivan said. "I'm not going to sit here and just pile it on our guys. I know this is a terrific group of people, and they're good players. And they care. We're going to work together to find a way to get the results."
