The Penguins have shown a lot of heart since Crosby went down in the Olympics. They have produced two amazing comebacks against Boston and Carolina. They have managed to get points, but the team needs its captain back. Geno’s suspension came at a horrible time too. The Blue Jackets seemingly get at least a point in every game they play. The Penguins cannot afford to end this road trip without a win and the best way to get a W is to have Sid re-enter the lineup. Last night they got beat 6-2 by the Golden Knights. The score was really not indicative of the game though. The Penguins didn’t play their best, but they still were likely the better overall team. One issue is the team is passing up shooting opportunities left and right. When you are down your two best offensive players you need to simplify the game and get pucks on net whenever a reasonable opportunity presents itself. Last night saw the Penguins have a glorious opportunity to enhance their playoff odds. Carolina, Detroit, Buffalo, and Boston all lost in regulation. Columbus only mustered a single point as we detailed earlier. A Penguins win last night could have really separated them from the pack. Technically Ottawa and Philadelphia are still sniffing around but it’s really looking like Columbus is the only true threat to jump someone. Luckily for Pittsburgh, Detroit and Boston seem to be in a tailspin and all the Pens really need to do is outpace one of those teams. Making the playoffs would be a hell of a lot easier if Sidney Crosby comes back to the lineup. Sid has been skating for two weeks; it’s time to rip the Band-Aid off and get him into the lineup.

As for the game last night the Penguins simply allowed way too many glorious opportunities. The 4th line had potentially their first bad performance of the season. Dewar was responsible for a horrible turnover 50 seconds after the Penguins made the game 2-1. It’s tough to complain about the 4th line having an off night given how phenomenal they have been all season. The issue is, they are being relied on too much right now. That line is clearly the best defensive line. They are also the only group that can counted on in the faceoff dot without Sid. With the inability to have Sid matched up against top units, you are giving that responsibility to the fourth line way too often. Sid’s return will help the entire lineup but it will certainly help the fourth line more than it may seem. Despite the Dewar mishap, the Penguins roared back to make it 3-2 off a beautiful feed from Mantha to Kindel.

Then Ville Koivunen couldn’t hold a puck on the blueline, and the Golden Knights made the game 4-2 which effectively ended the game. Koivunen has the playmaking and vision to be a very good NHL player. However, he lacks the physical traits to succeed consistently. He needs to be stronger on his skates and on his stick. It isn’t something the performance team can fix during the season, but I’d recommend they beef him up during the offseason. For the time being, there is truly no reason to have him on the squad. McGroarty should be called up in Koivunen’s place. Rutger is going to give you less of an offensive threat, but this team needs to be sounder defensively without Sid/Geno, Rutger helps accomplish that for you.

I really shit on Letang after the last game, which was completely warranted. Credit to Tanger, he was one of the few defensemen to actually enjoy a good game last night. If that type of play becomes a trend for him the Penguins will be in a good spot. Conversely, Wotherspoon has had a few bad games in a row. The Penguins cannot afford his game to go in the shitter at this point in the season. I’m sure Spoons will be fine but it certainly something to keep an eye on because with how good Karlsson has been this season he can’t have his partner falling apart.

Bryan Rust, as I wrote last game, is a complete gamer. He helped giving the Penguins life throwing a puck to Rakell in front of the net for the Penguins first goal. Rust lacks the talent of a superstar forward in the league, but you’d be hard pressed to find someone with more heart. Rust constantly outwills his opposition and finds ways to help his club stay competitive. His numbers without Sid and Geno in the lineup show that he isn’t a superstar merchant but rather just a damn good hockey player.

Arturs Silovs had a bad game. The Penguins hung him out to dry on most of the goals against too. You still needed a better performance from the goaltender. Arty and Stu need to be the backbone for this team with the big guy’s missing games. Stu let in four goals in his last outing but he was the only reason the Penguins managed a point against Carolina, he was fantastic. It’s tough to ask the goaltenders to do that every single night, but with the depleted lineup they really need to become superhuman. The games are so pivotal right now that I think you need your best goaltender in net, and in net consistently. I think the best goalie the Penguins have is currently in Wilkes Barre. It would be an extremely difficult situation to put Murashov into given how valuable every single game is, but it might be time to call him up. If Murashov is who we all think him to be then putting him in this position shouldn’t be a problem. Suggesting such a proposition isn’t to disparage Skinner or Silovs, but rather to praise how good Murashov looks.

The upsetting part of last night’s game is the face the Vegas Golden Knights stink. Their goaltending sucks. They are slow. Their offense is pretty much limited to Eichel-Marner-Dorofeyev. This road trip is gauntlet, and Vegas was the easiest test they had. They clearly failed the test. The Penguins were never going to win out, but that’s a game you would have liked them to get a point.

Vegas looks like a pretender, they really suck. However, the Edmonton Oilers may not even be a pretender. The Oilers have a legitimate chance at missing the playoffs all together. The Penguins are playing with house money this year. The Oilers are supposed to be playing for a Cup and the ability to convince McDavid to stay forever. Well, one way to not convince your captain to stay is to trade for Tristan Jarry. He gave up a nice seven goals to Dallas last night. What an awful trade for Edmonton and it might very well cost them not only the season, but also their captain.