Disappointing loss in game 6

Disappointing loss in game 6

Cody Flavell, Staff Writer

As the saying goes, “you can’t win them all”. This Penguins team probably should’ve won by now, though.

The Penguins suffered a game six loss at the hands of the Senators Tuesday night in what came as a shock to many.

It came only one day after Senators coach Guy Boucher admitted during his post-game press conference from a game five 7-0 loss that “of course they’re the better team. They are the Stanley Cup Champions. Everyone on the planet knows that.” Yet the Senators rebounded to pick up a game six victory and force game seven.

Craig Anderson made 45 saves weathering the Penguins storm throughout, only allowing one Evgeni Malkin shot behind him, further solidifying the Senators as a team that is better than everyone had originally thought.

After beating Columbus and Washington, nearly everyone assumed the Penguins would take the series in four or five games, but that hasn’t been the case. Anderson has stepped up to the challenge despite the Penguins being the overall better team in game six.

As game seven approaches, the Penguins will need to do something to emulate the 7-0 victory in game five that had just about everyone believing the Senators were done. They actually played game six very similarly to game five. They dominated the play and the Senators just got outstanding goaltending.

One thing the Penguins can work on for game seven is better shot execution.

They had a lot of shots from good areas but threw them right into Anderson’s chest, not allowing for too many second chance opportunities. They did make Anderson’s night tough at times but they may need to try and change up the location of their shots on the net to be more successful in game seven.

Another instance late in the game came when the Penguins had the extra attacker with the goalie pulled with about 20 seconds left.

Phil Kessel took a pass and had about half a net to shoot at. He has struggled in his entire career with one-timing shots to the net. He passed up on the opportunity, held on too long, and shot it right into Anderson. The Penguins lost the ensuing faceoff and could not hold the puck in their zone.

The Penguins are getting solid play out of their bottom six forwards, notably guys like Carter Rowney and Josh Archibald, which has helped push them through some tough playoff matchups.

The Penguins did have a goal called back questionably when Trevor Daley got the puck in behind Anderson but it was waived off for goalie interference. Needless to say, the call was not a good one and that the goal should’ve stood. It was a bad night for the officiating crew.

Mike Sullivan has yet to lose a playoff series as the head coach of the Penguins and they have dominated every game since the game three loss they suffered this round. They should be able to do so one more time and clinch a berth to play the awaiting Nashville Predators for the Stanley Cup.