Let’s start this week by adding a new phrase into our shared lexicon: conceded points.
Admittedly, I’m knicking this one from English football. But the phrase applies brilliantly to a couple of the Penguins’ recent losses.
Yesterday, with just over three minutes remaining in regulation, a ghastly turnover by Noel Acciari directly led to Nikita Kucherov’s winning goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Last Tuesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets scored twice in the final eight minutes of regulation to erase a two-goal deficit before winning in the shootout.
Given the situations in those games, the Penguins should have taken at least three of four available standings points. Instead, they ended up with only one.
The Penguins conceded points in those games. They were positioned favorably to come away with more points than they did.
Making matters worse, they did so against opponents they’re competing with for one of the Eastern Conference’s two wild-card spots.
At some point, I’ll go back through the schedule and point out how many points the Penguins have conceded this season. Those 2-0 leads that didn’t result in regulation wins early in the season will surely make the list.
Going forward, think about conceded points when you watch the Penguins. Reminder: They don’t need to lose the game to concede points.
Late last season, the Penguins beat the Red Wings in overtime, but they were ahead by two goals in the third period.
One point was better than none, but the Penguins should have taken two.
The Penguins have missed the last two postseasons by a combined four points. This morning, they sit two points out of a playoff spot.
All points are important. The conceded ones are killers.
Malkin’s status
Evgeni Malkin missed a fourth consecutive game yesterday and was placed on injured reserve.
Putting him on IR was procedural, providing roster flexibility for Philip Tomasino to return from his own injury absence.
Malkin participated in contact drills in Friday’s practice. He had on-ice workouts over the weekend.
It sure seems like he’s close to returning from an upper-body injury. Coach Mike Sullivan noted after the loss yesterday that the Penguins have been a lot easier to defend at five-on-five without Malkin as the second-line center. Six of their seven even-strength goals have come from the top line in Malkin’s absence.
Bunting’s car accident
I touched on this last night, but I can’t shake how lucky it was for Michael Bunting that the Penguins played a late-afternoon game yesterday.
There’s no way to know if his car accident before the game would have been worse if it had occurred a few hours before a weeknight game instead. But the intersection of Centre Avenue and Washington Place outside PPG Paints Arena is chaotic during weeknight rush hour when the Penguins play — and that’s with police officers directing traffic.
I’ve seen near misses there a lot. I’ve also seen accidents where response personnel had a tough time getting to the scene because of the volume of vehicles coming from every direction. Thankfully, traffic was scarce yesterday around the time of Bunting’s accident.
Don’t miss
• You’ll be shocked at the Penguins’ biggest disappointment at the midway mark of the NHL season. Not really.
• And once that shock dissipates, dive into The Athletic’s NHL goalie tiers. I’m confident you won’t feel much better about the Penguins after reading but the story does provide perspective on just what this team is up against at the most important position.
• Some good news, potentially, for the Penguins: Their next two games are against a couple of teams in Sean McIndoe’s weekend rankings bottom five. They’d better not concede any points in those games.
(Photo: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)
