Penguins/Golden Knights Recap: Pens trampled, lose in Vegas 6-2

Pregame

The Penguins use the same skaters and groupings as last night while swapping in Sergei Murashov in net.

First period

Vegas activates defensemen and scores two goals in the first 4:02 of the game to set the tone.

First up it’s Rasmus Andersson jumping in the play and scoring 1:06 into the game.

Not long after that Jack Eichel draws all the attention and no one notices Noah Hanifin sneaking into the vacant space. No one except Eichel. 2-0.

The Golden Knights get a power play and try a lot of backdoor plays. It finally pays off, Mark Stone gets his third point of the night redirecting a puck from right in front of Murashov. 3-0.

Tough period on what’s becoming a tough road trip (and even tough season). Vegas flexes their muscles and get in full control.

Second period

The Pens get their first power play, and brace yourself, they score on it. Tommy Novak shoots, it hits Sidney Crosby in front and is good for goal No. 657 in his career. 3-1 game.

Faint hope doesn’t last long, a Crosby pass goes awry and the Golden Knights go off on the rush. Trevor Connelly snipes Murashov. 4-1.

Pittsburgh has a penalty coming and Sam Girard gets tripped and goes heavy into the boards on his arm. The 4v4 trickles away, Vegas wins the puck out of a scrum and feeds Shea Theodore for a big shot. 5-1.

It’s spooky season and this game has been a house of horrors so far.

Third period

Some mild signs of life with 15 minutes to go, Novak shoots the puck and then pokes it around Adin Hill. Both Evgeni Malkin and Ville Koivunen are crashing the net, one of them gets the stick on it to score, apparently Koivunen. 5-2.

Not long after, Novak sets up Koivunen for a really nice chance, his shot goes just wide of the net and that’s a back-breaker for trying to make a comeback effort.

Penguins pull the goalie, Golden Knights get awarded a goal.

Some thoughts

• Bad game, sad game. Much like last night, the Penguins faced a really good team and it showed. They didn’t come close to measuring it up.
• Not to go all Doc Internet, but the read on Girard didn’t look good at all. He favored his left arm, was on the bench briefly and left for the lockerroom. We’ll see what comes of it but given the velocity he went into the end boards at a tough angle, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’ll be dealing with a serious injury.
• Well, at least the power play scored for the first time in seven games. That’s the most minor of silver linings but could be a bright spot on the confidence meter for those guys moving forward. Didn’t matter much tonight, could be something positive for the future considering how fastly those groups can go from ice cold into a heater.
• After last night, Crosby and Bryan Rust said it wasn’t time to panic. That makes sense from their perspective and I’m not sure that veterans like that ever really would admit to it. And this weekend was tough, playing two legit championship contenders on the road. There’s no shame in dropping it, though it’s a look in the mirror to realize the difference in quality between yourself and a big-time team. The Pens are also 1-5-1 in their last seven. It’s a long year but the results are pretty clear that this team needs to find some answers really quickly.
• Do such answers exist? That might be the trickier question. The Pens aren’t very good defensively, and that’s not reserved to just their goalies or defensemen. Give up three goals tonight to defensemen and that says a lot about the forward positioning and tracking. On the other side, the offense has been tough to come by.

Pittsburgh will look to salvage something out of this ugly road trip on Monday against Utah.