Pens show fight against Bruins after losing stars but lose

Pens show fight against Bruins after losing stars but lose

The Penguins put up a valiant fight against the Boston Bruins in an early afternoon game, but ultimately couldn't break down Tuukka Rask in the Boston net. The Penguins job was made immeasurably harder by the loss of Crosby in the warm-ups due to an unspecified illness and then the gradual loss of Malkin throughout the game. Malkin was hit early in the first and seemed to be hurt as he sat hunched over for a good while before going down the tunnel. He returned but left again during the second period to leave the Penguins without their top centers.

The Penguins stated that they would be splitting the goaltenders this weekend with another game tomorrow against the Detroit Red Wings, who were embarrassed in Philadelphia by a large score of 7-2. Thomas Greiss was given the start tonight and after a shaky start he cemented himself with a decent performance with a .966 SV% performance with only Lucic beating him in the first off a close shot near the net.

Without Crosby and Malkin the Penguins needed their other offensive players to turn and I personally think that only two did, those being Comeau and Hornqvist. Together they accrued just above 30% of the total number of shots attempted by Pittsburgh. One player who was remarkably poor for Chris Kunitz, advanced stats can tell you one thing but sometimes watching individual games tell you another story. Kunitz cannot finish chances and that was evident in this game with a number of fairly straightforward opportunities going awry. No doubt, having someone in those positions is at least better than not being there, but if they don't finish is there any real difference?

In all the Penguins struggled to break down the Bruins defensive system and they never really troubled Rask enough to force him to make a hard save. Hopefully Crosby returns tomorrow and maybe Malkin too but I think Geno is more unlikely to return but I hope they both return as I don't know if another game with Sutter as our primary center is something I wish to watch. I mean, I know I would end up watch because it is like an addiction and I'd feel weird not, but it would be a lot more enjoyable with Crosby and/or Malkin were available.