For the first time in team history, the Penguins went winless in five consecutive home games. They suffered a 6-4 defeat last night to the suddenly resurgent Edmonton Oilers. At least this loss did not include a third period collapse, it also did not include a good effort by the team. For most of the night the Penguins were way too tentative in the defensive zone, running a very soft zone above the hashmarks allowed Edmonton to zip passes east/west all night. The defensive setup also allowed Edmonton to enter with speed far too often, especially McDavid, which resulted in several penalties. Penalties were the ultimate demise as the Oilers converted two first period goals on an extended 5 on 3, the Penguins would fight back a few times but could never even things up. This game saw Leon Draisaitl scores his 1000th point and Crosby come within 1 of tying Pittsburgh Legend Mario Lemieux for most points in team history.

The Penguins were passengers for most of the night and deserved to lose this game. Which brings us to the topic of did this week “end” the season. Honestly, given the expectations for the team it does seem that way. However, they will be going on a much-needed road trip and if they can get a couple wins in Ottawa and Montreal, maybe Christmas will be saved. Stu Skinner lamented about how the leadership and vibes in the room were great throughout this game despite the current slide. Some may look at that and be pissed off; the Penguins should be angry/sulking after the performances this week. I would disagree, if the mood goes completely to shit and the leadership group is not stepping up that would mark a dead team. The Penguins need to be optimistic and have a stick-to-itveness because for most of the season before the past week they have been really good. Per MoneyPuck, their playoff odds have dropped from the 70s to 46.8%, still a huge increase for the 5ish percent coming into the season. Getting on the road and getting together with the team hopefully does them some good.

I know he has become my whipping boy, but Kevin Hayes cannot be played anymore. He’s too slow and his hands look completely shot. No one liked the third goal that Stu Skinner allowed, it was admittedly bad, but it was all started off Hayes fumbling a puck at the opposing blue line, not being able to back check appropriately which allowed for the Oilers to set up in the zone, and then had a laissez-faire effort letting a pass through him to the goal scorer . Unfortunately, the clip doesn’t show the turnover but trust me it happened and his inability to play with the puck has been happening often.

His current replacement would come in the form of Ville Koivunen who has also not enjoyed a great season. Muse spoke about Ville needing to find consistency. Last year he had that consistency for his first 8 NHL games, he needs to get back to that, he’s over-thinking the game. His speed and hands alone, even with his poor play, would still be a lineup upgrade over what Hayes is giving you on a nightly basis. The team would be smart to make over lineup tweaks though. Lizotte is out, we all know Heinen isn’t the guy so why not give Broz a real look until at least Lizotte is back? The bottom six as a whole hasn’t looked great since the Lizotte/Geno injuries, time to try something new. Avery Hayes is a spark plug type player who could give them some energy, even Boko Imama could give the team some life because he would drop the mitts. Not sure what they’ll do but they’d be smart to make some tweaks to the bottom six.

Coming into the week, everyone assumed that losing Geno would be tough, but it has proved to be impossible to replace. Kindel has been good as the new 2nd line center, his line as a whole was the best/most consistent throughout the week. The absence of Geno however sends ripples through the entire lineup that can’t currently be calmed. I would have assumed this team only to be dead if Sid was out of the lineup, but it appears that Geno’s impact is still not replaceable.

I thought the new guys fared well. Neither Skinner nor Jarry played great. Both goalies let in a goal that definitely would have liked back. From Skinner’s side of things, his team did him no favors with the penalties. I wouldn’t put this game on him, not at all. Playing your old team is always weird, it’s especially weird for a goaltender and doing it in your first start is difficult regardless of how the team played in front of you. Kulak was steady most of the night and I actually enjoyed his pairing with St. Ivany. Kulak did have the delay of game penalty that resulted in the extended 5 on 3 in the first period but those things happen sometimes, no reason to besmirch the guy. I’d stick with the Kulak pairing in Ottawa and I would give Stu the start.

If you think that I am going to talk about the performance of the other team’s captain, you are wrong. Regular season merchant who can’t win shit, same as it has always been.

It was one of the darkest homestands in Penguins history. Time to get on the road, get back to their game, and pull themselves back into this thing. If they don’t expect several members of this team to be elsewhere before the Olympics and then all of the attention will turn back to Sid and what he wants to do. Let’s just pray that doesn’t happen.