Empty Thoughts: Panthers 4, Penguins 1

Observations from the Penguins’ 4-1 loss to the Panthers:

No one likes excuses.

Especially hockey players and coaches.

“We’re not going to make excuses for ourselves” or some variation thereof is usually the standard retort when a circumstance such as injuries or tough scheduling is brought up.

(Heck, a team could be stricken with scurvy and lose 3-1 with two of the goals being kicked in illegally and the third-line left winger will say, “We can’t make excuses.”)

That brings us to the Penguins’ lackluster 4-1 loss at home to the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

Dressing a limited lineup due to injuries and playing their second game in less than 22 hours, the Penguins gave an honest effort. But they just couldn’t scrape enough together to pose a sustained threat over the course of 60 minutes.

What they’ve accomplished through the first 42 games of the season is remarkable. To be in second place of the Metropolitan Division with 55 points while virtually missing at least one player of significant consequence for every game this season is a feat to admire.

At the same time, they‘re starting to really look like a team hindered by those maladies, particularly in the aftermath of Jake Guentzel’s right shoulder injury.

Granted, three games is hardly an ample sample size. But in three contests they’ve played minus Guentzel’s services, they’ve really had to grind things out to generate even a spartan amount of offense. They’re getting plenty of shots, 30-plus in each of the three games they’ve been without Guentzel.

But they just haven’t looked as dangerous without him.

It’s one thing when Guentzel gets a breakaway. It’s another when Dominik Simon gets one (which Panthers goaltender Chris Driedger snuffed out at 16:33 of the second period).

The Penguins don’t want to make excuses and that’s a valiant ethos to take up. At the same time, there’s a reality to the limitations of their roster as it’s presently constructed.

“Anytime a guy who is that important and does that much on the ice, it is a little bit difficult at times to get your bearings and get your chemistry and make up for that,” forward Bryan Rust said. “But give credit to the guys in this room. We’ve done a really good job all year of that. We’ve done a pretty good job up until tonight. Obviously, we didn’t have our best game. We’ve just got to learn from it and move on.”

What happened

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead at 2:28 of the first period. Pushing a puck up the left wing, Panthers forward Frank Vatrano zipped by minimal resistance from Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and attacked the net, shuffling a one-handed backhander on net. Goaltender Tristan Jarry denied the initial shot but allowed a rebound that Vatrano jabbed past Jarry’s left leg with a forehand shot for his ninth goal of the season. Forward Mike Hoffman had the lone assist.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Only 84 seconds had expired before the Penguins responded. Meandering his way past Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck, a native of Upper St. Clair, Simon created a two-on-one with forward Jared McCann against Panthers defenseman Josh Brown. Simon dished a subtle backhanded pass from the right circle to the opposite circle where McCann was able to sizzle a wrister past Driedger’s blocker on the near side for his 11th goal. Simon and forward Patric Hornqvist collected assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Florida reclaimed a lead, 2-1, at the 10:44 mark of the first. Corralling a puck on the end boards, Letang forced an errant pass which was intercepted by Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson above the left circle. Matheson immediately dealt it to Trocheck above the crease. Trocheck momentarily lost the puck but quickly reclaimed it on the end boards, turned towards the cage and moved a pass to the slot where forward Brett Connolly was able to lift a wrister past Jarry’s glove hand for his 16th goal. Trocheck and Matheson netted assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

After a scoreless second period, the Panthers secured victory at 8:52 of the third. Off a Vatrano feed from the right half wall, Hoffman, one of the NHL’s best shooters, sniped a blistering wrister from above the right circle past Jarry’s glove hand on the near side for his 14th goal. Vatrano and defenseman Riley Stillman had assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

An empty-net goal by forward Evgenii Dadonov, his 18th, at 17:32 of the third capped the scoring. Forward Jonathan Huberdeau collected the lone assist.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Statistically speaking

• The Panthers had a 35-32 edge in shots.

• Hornqvist led the game with six shots.

• Vatrano led the Panthers with four shots.

• Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad led the game with 25:46 of ice time on 28 shifts.

• Letang led the Penguins with 24:10 of ice time on 27 shifts.

• The Panthers controlled faceoffs, 31-23 (57 percent).

• Trocheck was 11 for 15 (73 percent).

• Penguins forward Teddy Blueger was 9 for 16 (56 percent).

• Letang led the game with four blocked shots.

• Matheson and Stillman each led the game with three blocked shots.

Historically speaking

• Hornqvist (248 points) surpassed forward Pascal Dupuis (247) for 34th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Trocheck, of Upper St. Clair, appeared in his 400th career game.

• The Panthers snapped an eight-game losing streak (0-6-2) in Pittsburgh. Their last victory here was a 5-1 triumph, Jan. 20, 2014.

Randomly speaking

• Few areas of the Penguins might be impacted by Guentzel’s absence more than the power play. On Sunday, the Penguins were 0 for 3 with the man advantage. Over their past three games, they are 0 for 9.

• Letang had a rough weekend. He had a hand in each of the Panthers’ first two goals, the second coming off his own turnover. The night before, in a 3-2 overtime road win against the Montreal Canadiens, an ugly turnover out of his own left corner ended up being converted into Montreal’s second goal. He needs a hug after the past 48 hours.

• Jarry has had better games but he was strong enough to win this contest. He kept his team in the contest with a stunning blocker save at 4:06 of the second period against Ekblad:

• McCann nearly scored a game-tying goal with a nifty piece of stick work as he stole a puck then juggled it five times out of the air and baseball swung a shot on net which Driedger at up at 6:08 of the third period:

• Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin took a penalty for the fifth time in six games.

Publicly speaking

• Sullivan admitted the team was worn down:

“I don’t think we had the juice that we have had in most of the games this year. One of the challenges of this league is the grind of the schedule. Good teams just need to understand how to manage those games. I thought we could have done a better job in certain circumstances in not putting ourselves in difficult positions where we had to defend when we were tired. The details of line changes and decisions with the puck late in shifts, all of those things come in to play, especially in a game like this one.”

• Letang was curt but direct in assessing his own play:

“Some mistakes. I made some mistakes. It is what it is. A bad one.”

• Sullivan was asked for a critique of Letang’s play in recent games:

“(Letang) can simplify his game in those situations. Him and I have had this conversation. It’s usually ongoing with us. (Letang) has the ability to be a difference maker and we certainly don’t want to take the stick out of his hand. But as we say to all of our players, sometimes the best play is a simple play. It’s just recognizing those situations. It’s not going to be perfect out there, especially for guys that log the type of minutes that (Letang) logs. It’s not going to be a flawless game but certainly that’s a conversation that (Letang) and I have fairly frequently.”

• Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson spoke about his team’s play in its own zone:

“I thought we were a little looser in our (defensive) zone than usual. Playing well in the (defensive) zone, it’s hard, it’s demanding, it takes a lot of discipline. Stopping and starting, I think we got away from it. That allowed to them to get their (defense) involved and I think that fed into them sustaining some offensive zone pressure.”

• McCann on the tight schedule over the past two days:

“Two games in what? Under 24 hours? You have to give guys in this room credit. We’ve been battling injuries and everything this year. I know that’s not an excuse. We just have to keep moving forward.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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