Penguins Power-Play ‘Work In Progress’ Amid Losing Streak

The Penguins suffered their third consecutive loss Tuesday, as a few old habits came back to bite them.

Pittsburgh fell in a shootout to the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. The Penguins coughed up a pair of third-period leads before they watched the game get all the way away from them.

The Pens largely dominated scoring chances and shot attempts while the power-play unit was able to score two goals — one just seconds after the man-advantage expired. Pittsburgh couldn’t quite keep that momentum, however, as that same unit gave up a pair of odd-man breaks and nearly allowed Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson to score a shorthanded goal.

Penguins forward Bryan Rust summed up the special teams unit pretty well.

“It’s still a work in progress. I think the intentions are there,” Rust said, per team-provided transcript. “I think we’re trying to play with a little bit more pace. We’re trying to get things going in the right direction. I think it’s been better than last year because last year was a train wreck. It’s not very hard to be better than that.”

Rust certainly isn’t lying about that.

Pittsburgh currently ranks 11th in power-play percentage (24%) and fifth in power-play goals (six), so there’s no doubt things are getting better. But they still aren’t good enough.

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