3 Takeaways From Penguins Embarrassing Loss To Sharks

The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to let a seven-game road trip derail their season, dropping their third consecutive contest on Monday night, 2-1, to the last-place San Jose Sharks at SAP Center.

Although the visitors had their chances, including a Drew O’Connor penalty shot attempt and a Michael Bunting game-tying goal negated on a goalie interference challenge, the Penguins limp into their final game on Wednesday, looking for anything to salvage this trip.

Too Little Too Late

After a scoreless first period, the Sharks took control of the game, outshooting the Penguins 13-6 in the second, with Mikael Granlund putting San Jose up 1-0.

Luckily, Sidney Crosby got Pittsburgh on the board with a goal just 24 seconds into the third, but former first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini broke the 1-1 tie at 3:41 with his 16th of the year.

Meanwhile, the Penguins shut down the Sharks’ attack, limiting them to a game-low six shots in the period while managing 14 of their own.

However, O’Connor didn’t convert on a penalty shot, and then Bunting’s goal got called back on a goalie interference call. Moreover, the Penguins only got one good chance 6-on-4 but couldn’t beat rookie Yaroslav Askarov.

In the end, the Penguins waited too late into the game to find their killer instinct and, for the second time this season, played a one-goal contest against the 32nd-ranked team in the NHL.

Penguins Can’t Win Without Their Power Play

When the Penguins score on the power play, they are 13-10-5, yet when they don’t light the lamp on the man advantage like they failed to do on four opportunities on Monday, they are 7-14-3.

After 52 games, Pittsburgh’s power play statistics are the sixth-best in the NHL, at 26.2%, yet it has given up the second-most goals, at 187.

Even with a middle-of-the-pack pack penalty kill unit (79.3%), it’s become clear that without special teams, the Penguins would be closer to dead last in the league.

What Will be the Penguins’ Breaking Point?

The Colorado Avalanche got off to a horrible start, swapping out their entire goalie platoon and trading away one of the game’s top stars a month and a half before the NHL trade deadline.

Meanwhile, the Penguins are 2-4-0 on a critical road trip and continue to lose contests to weaker teams.

Yes, goaltending has been an issue all season. Still, general manager Kyle Dubas hasn’t done anything except make minor moves to improve his team, which now sits only above the Buffalo Sabres for last place in the Eastern Conference.

The season is winding down, and even with a two-week break in February, the Penguins will only have 24 games left to avoid the Draft Lottery pool and hope to sneak into the playoffs.

As mentioned before, this seven-game road trip would be the defining moment of Crosby’s 20th season. If changes don’t come upon their return to Pittsburgh, there’s a chance their Draft Lottery odds will improve upon 6.9%.