A conservative, tightly played game that yielded a few opportunities and a 1-0 lead late in the first period unraveled in the second period. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ near obsession with ghastly mistakes and defensive breakdowns could not be camouflaged for long, and the solid first 30 minutes devolved into a series of odd-man breaks against later in the second.

That 1-0 lead became a 2-1 deficit after a pair of unmistakably terrible decisions and eventually a 4-1 Ottawa Senators win at PPG Paints Arena in which the Penguins went meekly.

The Penguins had just five shots in the third period, despite trailing just 2-1.

“I think consistency has been an issue. I think tonight’s another example of that. I thought there were stretches of the game where that was there. If you go through the game, I thought the first period, I walked out of that first period pretty happy with things. Not just the goal at the end of the period, but the period as a whole,” coach Dan Muse said. “I think that’s the way you need to play against a team like this. And then, we got away from it in the back half of the second, and I think we got stubborn with it. Some of the things that were working in the first period, we didn’t stay with it long enough.”

On Hall of Fame night in which the organization inducted former goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, it was the Flower who might have been having flashbacks to the first couple of years of his pro career behind the rag-tag bunch known as Generation Next that yielded top three overall picks in four consecutive drafts beginning in 2003 (Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal).

Indeed, the Penguins’ game crumbled, or rather returned to its natural state of chaos and stubbornness deeper into the second period. Goalie Sergei Murashov was quite good, stopping a few chances, including Fabian Zetterlund’s point-blank rip on a two-on-one, before the avalanche of chances lit the lamp a couple of times.

Rather than rely on simple, the Penguins tried to force the rush. Rather than put the puck deep, even reliable players plunked the puck off defenders at the offensive blue line. When things go wrong for the Penguins, they too often surrender for too long.

“It’s a game of mistakes, and I think we can limit them. For me today, and this has happened before too, if a mistake happens, whether it’s a mistake that we make or there’s a bad bounce, it’s (about) not compounding it afterward. And I thought at the end of the second period, there was a little bit of that,” Muse said.

Penguins Xs and Os

Tactically, the Penguins had a structured, linear first period with a couple of nice tactical wrinkles. In addition to tight puck support, the Penguins were able to send a flyer out of the zone to create space or rush opportunities.

In the first period, they got the bolting winger open a few times. Egor Chinakhov clanged the post on a breakaway, and Nick Robertson began an offensive sequence that soon ended in a goal (that was overturned).

However, Ottawa adjusted. The Penguins … wilted. They looked slow, lumbering, and ultimately didn’t have any starch in their shorts by the third period. After six shots in the first period, the Penguins had just 11 the rest of the game. Yes, 17 total shots.

They were indeed stubborn, pounding away at the rush game rather than slipping pucks deep, getting a forecheck, creating pressure, perhaps creating some chaos that works in their favor, keeping a high F3 to create another layer in the neutral zone, protecting their beleaguered defense and goalie.

They know this. They talk about this. They just refuse to do this with any regularity.

“You’ve got to be patient with (the puck) in the O-zone. I mean, wait for your chances, and come down to keeping plays and making some plays (when you have the chance),” Tommy Novak said.

And as Ottawa adjusted to the Penguins and kept numbers back, the Penguins were helpless, by their own submission.

Penguins Report Card

Perhaps the grade is a bit harsh because Muse was correct to feel pretty good after the first period, but it’s a mental failure and a failure of heart to fold as the Penguins did. Five shots in the third period?! It’s an unacceptable effort for an NHL team with a travel day, a practice day, and then a game day, with a sellout crowd, icing four future Hall of Famers just months removed from a playoff berth.

“I thought we had an opportunity, after the first one, to maybe put some shifts together and build some momentum, and start to tilt the ice back our way. And I didn’t think we did that,” said Muse. “I thought we ended up putting together some shifts that went the opposite of building momentum. And so again, I think that’s a part of the consistency within our game that we have to build it, and it’s 20 games into the season now. Like we need to do it quickly here.”

Indeed, 20 games and they’re stubbornly turning the puck over and making the same mistakes; they’re no further along than they were in Game 1.

He played with the puck for most of the game. His defensive work was positionally sound; his work in the offensive zone was a step ahead. He scored a goal–that didn’t count via a coach’s challenge for offside–but on a night of gray, dreary blah, Novak again showed he can elevate his line from the wing.

He was pushing. A breakaway. An assist on the two-on-one that became the Penguins’ lone goal. He is again using his speed, trying to find lanes and puck possession. He also defended well, deflecting or disrupting a couple of would-be great chances in the low zone.

The Penguins’ top line with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell had good puck possession, zone time, and some chances, but whithered. The Penguins’ third line with Hendrix Lapierre was quiet, though they, too, had some chances before going silent.

The Penguins defensemen tugged on the thread of a solid game in the second period as both Declan Carlile and Kaedan Korczak were the causes of odd-man rushes. The game’s tenor and tone snapped toward Ottawa in the middle of the second period. Within a few minutes, the Penguins yielded a couple of odd-man rushes and a breakaway. That lead became a deficit, and that vigor to stay structured became … nothing.

As a team, there were: No fights. No shoving. No hits. No anger. No passion. No intensity.

What keeps them from playing the simple game that brought them so much success last season? The view from here is that too many players know the team is a dead man walking. None have quit, but too few are responding against good teams that push.