The Pittsburgh Penguins’ two most recent games are causing fans to raise their eyebrows and question the future: Is this possibly the end of an era?
In games against the Vegas Golden Knights and the Arizona Coyotes, the Penguins lost in an embarrassing fashion.
Against Vegas, the Pens built a two-goal lead in the second period, only to give it up in the third and lose the game 3-2. Then they lost to Arizona 5-2, after having tied it up in the second period.
These two losses are so jarring because of the team’s poor play and lack of production on the ice. Giving up that two-goal lead against Vegas was truly disappointing. And against Arizona, the Penguins gave up an own goal during an empty net.
The Pens really needed those two wins because they currently sit second-to-last in the Metropolitan division with 48 points.
The Penguins struggle in one main area, and that is their power play. Currently, they have the second-to-worst power play in the league at 13.3 percent. This especially stood out against Arizona, in which they failed to score on all three of their power plays.
This is strange because their first power play unit is filled with extremely talented and high producing players, such as Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Eric Karlsson, and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby, for instance, is having one of his best seasons, carrying the team on his back with his 27 goals and 21 assists for 48 points in 44 games. Guentzel and Karlsson are having equally decent seasons. But even with this roster, the team struggles to find chemistry on the ice.
Crosby has only one season left on his contract after this season ends, and fans worry that the team is wasting their final years with Crosby due to their inconsistent play.
Last season, the Penguins missed the playoffs, ending their 16-year playoff streak – which had started the season after Crosby’s rookie year. During that year, like this year, the Pens struggled mainly because of their inconsistency. And as these past two seasons have proved, that kind of play can lead to the downfall of a team.
