The Pittsburgh Penguins have not been able to fully figure it out this season and arguably their worst loss of the 2024-25 campaign was dealt out Monday.
Pittsburgh looked to ride their 4-2 win against the Washington Capitals over the weekend into a big game at home against the Dallas Stars, but instead were behind from the start and could never turn things around. Dallas scored six first-period goals, including two from defenseman Miro Heiskanen, to leave the Penguins trailing.
Both Joel Blomqvist and Alex Nedeljkovic struggled in net, as the former allowed three goals on eight shots while Nedeljkovic watched four get by him on 32 shots.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby talked about the tough loss, signaling that “chasing” rather than playing their game after the rough opening period is what left them down and out in the game.
“We got behind, and started chasing it,” Crosby said, as transcribed by Penguins team reporter Michelle Crechiolo. “To do that against a dangerous team, it can get ugly, and that’s what happened. Instead of just realizing we had a lot of game left, we started to force it a bit and opened up. They capitalized.”
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Tristan Jarry has been called back up to the NHL after spending time in the AHL, so there’s hope that he can return to his expected level of play when he gets back between the pipes.
Pittsburgh will take on the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday, aiming to get back in the win column.
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Featured image via Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images