Penguins forwards struggle in loss to Avalanche
DENVER — Penguins coach Mike Johnston expects more from his forwards.
Playing against one of the NHL's worst defensive teams, the Penguins received little impact from their offensive standouts in a 3-1 setback against the Avalanche on Wednesday at Pepsi Center.
Center Sidney Crosby was held without a shot on goal for only the second time this season, didn't produce a point for the 25th time this season and lost 13 of 20 faceoffs.
Left wing David Perron was also was held without a shot on goal.
“It was our forwards,” Johnston said. “Puck possession time, holding on to the puck, controlling the puck — we need to be better.”
Center Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins life with an inspired performance in the third period, scoring his 27th goal of the season and nearly willing the Penguins back into the game. But Malkin wasn't himself in the first two periods, turning the puck over numerous times as the Penguins looked sluggish.
Johnston's message to the Penguins following the game was simply: In nights when their legs are not there, they must play intelligent hockey.
“Coach Johnston came in, and that was his main point,” said defenseman Ben Lovejoy, who played 19:27 in the first game of his second stint with the Penguins. “When you don't have your legs, you need to find a way to do other things better. We did not manage the puck well when we didn't have our legs.”
Colorado entered the game ranked 24th in goals against. In a 1-0 victory against the Avalanche in December, the Penguins pumped 48 shots on net.
They finished with 29 shots Wednesday, though only recorded five in the first period.
“We were just flat,” Crosby said. “It wasn't pretty there. We just didn't really make plays. To get shots, you have to execute in the neutral zone and sustain pressure offensively. We didn't really do that until the third.”
The Penguins were outshot 9-5 in a first period that was even more one-sided than that number reflects.
It took former Penguins wing Jarome Iginla 13 seconds to put the Avalanche ahead in the second as he fired a shot past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for his 20th goal of the season. Iginla has 16 20-goal seasons.
Center Nathan MacKinnon later made the score 2-0.
“It's hard to say what the problem was,” center Brandon Sutter said. “Our start just wasn't very good. Our habits in the defensive zone need to get a lot better, too. I didn't really feel like they deserved all those goals. We gave them a lot tonight.”
Malkin evened the game halfway through the third period, but Gabriel Landeskog put the game away.
“He (Malkin) looked like he was going to try and take charge of that third period,” Johnston said.
The third period, though, wasn't the problem.
Lifeless through two periods, the Penguins never really gave themselves a chance and now face their most daunting stretch of the season — back-to-back games against the NHL's best team in Anaheim and the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings.
“We obviously need to be better,” defenseman Paul Martin said. “We need a better effort than that. We finally showed some jam and some legs in the third period. But by then, it was too little, too late.”
Josh Yohe is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jyohe@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JoshYohe_Trib.
