Penguins make quiet exit from postseason

Watching this from the management box — the highest possible seats at Consol Energy Center, the arena built on the influence of his popularity — had to kill Sidney Crosby. From another spot in the building, Evgeni Malkin must have felt as though lightning had struck his heart while viewing the proceedings.

The Penguins — depleted of their core strength at center for most of this calendar year — doing everything but deliver a goal in Game 7 of a Round 1 Stanley Cup playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Lightning 1, Penguins 0.

"We had a great season, guys battled hard, they never took a night off," defenseman Kris Letang said, "but we didn't have all the skill we wanted."

Letang, who held a pivotal role as the point man on a power play that went 1 for 35 in the series, was not offering an excuse for the Penguins failing to finish a best-of-seven series they once led, 3-1.

However, reality's bite was sharper than the Penguins' offense without Crosby and Malkin, who missed the final 36 games counting playoffs.

The Penguins scored two or fewer goals in 20 of those contests, including the final three of this series, when they managed four markers on 98 registered shots.

Left wing Pascal Dupuis, who scored one of the Penguins' 14 series goals, said Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson "played well," and the surface statistics back that statement.

Roloson, 41 and in his first postseason series since 2006, finished with a .946 save percentage overall and .976 when the Lightning worked the penalty kill.

Still, difficult to gauge for the Penguins was how much of a threat their offensive attack represented.

In addition to playing without Crosby (concussion) and Malkin (right knee), also unavailable to the Penguins were gritty left wing Matt Cooke (suspension) and skilled prospect forward Dustin Jeffrey (right knee).

They did have goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was cheered off the ice by a sellout crowd after allowing only one goal on 23 shots.

He had no chance at preventing Lightning left wing Sean Bergenheim from scoring into an open net. Bergenheim, positioned to the left of Fleury, was free for an open shot after the Penguins paid too much attention to center Dominic Moore from behind the cage.

"Our goalie stopped everything he saw," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.

Bergenheim, by the way, scored as many goals in this series (three) as arguably the Penguins' three top wingers — Alex Kovalev, Chris Kunitz and James Neal.

Bylsma and especially general manager Ray Shero, who acquired Kovalev and Neal before the NHL trade deadline, were left to wonder what any of those 20-goal caliber wingers might have done flanking Crosby or Malkin.

Indeed, Crosby and Malkin are former NHL scoring champions and arguably the best 1-2 pivot punch of this generation.

However, what the Penguins really missed without them was a forward capable of backing off opposing defensemen upon entry into the neutral and defensive zones.

Also, obviously, guaranteed production.

Crosby and Malkin have played 62 postseason games together. They have averaged .952 goals and 2.5 points in those contests.

Just get that in this Game 7, and the Penguins are playing the top-seeded Washington Capitals in Round 2.

Instead, a season that started with championship promise — and on the morning of the New Year's Day Winter Classic had the Penguins positioned as arguably the Stanley Cup favorites — ended with not a dud, like last postseason, but rather with a whimper.

"Taking two of the best players out of any lineup changes it, but we still had the opportunity to win with the guys in our lineup," Kunitz said.

Indeed, but perhaps as expected, the Penguins couldn't finish.

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