It Ain't Broke, But It Sure Could Use Fixed

By: Cody Flavell (@LetsTalkPens)

The Pittsburgh Penguins (and notice I didn't add the Wilkes-Barre part of the team) should be ashamed. They should be embarrassed. They should be reamed in the locker room. They shouldn't be allowed to even go home tonight. They should be forced to sleep in the locker room in Boston. Because what me and thousands of other Penguins fans just watched was pathetic. I understand being beaten by the Boston Bruins because they're a pesky team that always finds a way to prevail when they play us. But to lose 5-1 in the fashion the Penguins just did was awfully pathetic. Let's start with the good. See I hate referring to them as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton players because they've earned their due in the NHL. I think you guys will understand for this article though because these WBS bottom-6 guys just showed the entire top-6 Penguins roster how to play a hockey game. Another goal scored by a member of Wilkes-Barre, this time from Tom Kuhnhackl. Yes, it may have been completely accidental, but they all count don't they? Oskar Sundqvist got his first NHL point tonight too. That's pretty cool. Another bright spot tonight was Marc-Andre Fleury. Yes, the box score shows he gave up 5 goals. Among them? A breakaway, a penalty shot, a horrific turnover behind the play, and a terribly misplayed 2-on-2 by the defense. He made huge saves time after time to keep this team in it, and as usual got the (butt) end of the stick (My Twitter handle is @LetsTalkPens for those of you who want to put this game on Fleury by the way). Now the fun part. Can we all take a second to notice the rough patch Olli Maatta is going through? Now I'm not gonna divulge in and bury him because the poor kid has scratched his way through shoulder surgeries and thyroid cancer to maintain a spot on the roster but he's still gotta get better. Or the Pens need to make sure he's 100% healthy because something seems odd. Next, Chris Kunitz played awful. Patric Hornqvist, ghost. Sidney Crosby, unnoticeable. Don't get me wrong, I love all three of them, but they've got to be held as accountable as everyone else. In my opinion, head coach Mike Sullivan ought to decline any power play chances from here on forward. I mean the Pens first power play of the game was atrocious. The puck gets moved all over the place, passing ten or fifteen times before a shot is even taken. Ninety percent of those shots are missing the net and the puck ending up back in their defensive zone. Oh, and how dare we judge Derrick Pouliot and Kris Letang for the two on one that led to Chris Kelly's goal for Boston. Letang looked as if he was out to lunch. Pouliot's dive to attempt to break up the two on one opportunity looked as if he was trying to bat it down with his face. And it's not like Tuukka Rask is the same Tuukka Rask of previous years. His numbers aren't that impressive. But the Penguins have made a habit all season of making average goalies look like Vezina Candidates. What bugs me most about this game though isn't the individual lack of effort from some of the players. It's not the referees blown calls. It's. It sure as heck isn't Marc-Andre Fleury. No, what bugs me most is that the Pittsburgh Penguins continue to lose games to teams that they are trying to either a.) make ground up on or b.) keep out of the race. The Pens can continue to win against these mediocre teams, that's great. Just remember, for every loss against a team your close to in the standings, that's another shot to the heart. Boston sure as hell didn't end our season by any means. But just remember that 6 point swing of points that Boston took off of us in the season sweep this year. We'll see how vital that is come April.

#CodyFlavell #Penguins #Broke #Fixed