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Penguins shellacked in sloppy display vs. Senators | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

Penguins shellacked in sloppy display vs. Senators

Seth Rorabaugh
Seth Rorabaugh
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The Penguins’ Noel Acciari recoils after get a high stick in the chin from the Senators’ Drake Batherson during the first period Saturday.
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A shot by the Senators’ Tyler Kleven (not shown) gets past Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) and Matt Grzelcyk (24) for a goal during the first period Saturday.
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Senators goaltender Leevi Merilainen blocks a shot by the Penguins’ Cody Glass during the first period Saturday.
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Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic blocks a shot by the Senators’ Ridly Greig during the first period Saturday.
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Penguins coach Mike Sullivan gives instructions during the third period Saturday.

Erik Karlsson remained optimistic after the Pittsburgh Penguins were smacked by the Ottawa Senators, 5-0, at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

Not just about his team. But others as well.

“We can go home, hopefully watch the Steelers win a game tonight,” the defenseman said. “And wake up tomorrow and kind of move on.”

The Penguins looked like they largely slept in Saturday as they were battered by the rambunctious Senators in a penalty-filled game.

Despite the visitors recording 20 penalty minutes, the Penguins — who logged a season-high 16 minutes in penalties — were unable to score on six power-play opportunities and even yielded a short-handed goal.

“It was similar to our five-on-five game, just our game overall,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said. “We just didn’t execute well. I don’t think there was one thing, honestly. A couple of times it was entries. Didn’t win some battles. It was different things.”

What wasn’t different was the Penguins’ chronic habit of giving up a goal on the first shot they face in a game.

That happened for the ninth time this season when Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven scored his second goal of the season 3:16 into regulation.

Dragging a puck out of the Penguins’ left corner, Senators forward Claude Giroux slid it to the near point for Kleven, who stroked a one-timer. The puck glanced off the stick of Penguins forward Noel Acciari — stationed in the crease — and made a slight course correction, beating goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic’s blocker. Giroux and linemate Adam Gaudette had assists.

The hosts issued a coach’s challenge on the basis of goaltender interference, citing Senators forward Tim Stutzle making contact in the crease with Nedeljkovic. But officials found no evidence of malfeasance and issued a delay of game penalty to the Penguins.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan indicated president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas received some explanation from league officials on the decision.

“They didn’t think it interfered with (Nedeljkovic’s) ability to play his position,” Sullivan said. “And I respectfully disagree. I thought the player (Stutzle) went into the blue paint on his own volition. He made contact with (Nedeljkovic’s) leg. Therefore, we felt strongly that it impeded his ability to play his position.”

During the ensuing power-play sequence, the Penguins yielded another goal on the second shot they faced as Senators forward Shane Pinto collected his seventh goal at 5:14 of the first period.

Controlling the puck in the high slot of the offensive zone, Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot offloaded a pass to the outer rim of the right corner for Giroux, who fed it to the upper portions of the circle. From there, Pinto wound up and whacked a one-timer past Nedeljkovic’s blocker on the near side. Giroux and Chabot collected assists.

“We get scored against, we challenge for goalie interference,” Sullivan said. “We felt it was a really fair challenge. We don’t win the challenge. They score on the power play. It’s a two-goal swing.”

The Penguins had four power-play opportunities in the first period alone but the only goal generated during any of those sequences was a short-handed score by Pinto at 19:04 of the opening frame.

Out of a furious scrum for the puck on Ottawa’s end boards, Pinto took possession in the left circle and generated a two-on-one rush with Chabot against Karlsson, a former Senators defenseman. Gaining the Penguins’ zone on the right wing, Pinto encountered minimal resistance from Karlsson and lasered a wrister by Nedeljkovic’s left leg. Forward Ridley Greig garnered the lone assist.

With Crosby opening the second period in the penalty box for a slashing infraction late in the first period, Senators forward Drake Batherson scored his 14th goal only 41 seconds into the frame during a power-play scenario.

From the center point of the offensive zone, Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson lobbed a wrister toward the cage. Nedeljkovic made the initial save but couldn’t contain the rebound. A mad scramble of humanity unfolded in and near the blue paint with bodies in black and white jerseys each tumbling to the ice. The puck slid free to the right of the crease where Batherson located it and roofed a wrister past the glove of a distressed Nedeljkovic. Assists went to forward Josh Norris and Sanderson.

The Senators — who entered the contest on a 1-5-1 skid — did quite a bit to ensure most of Saturday’s contest was a bellicose entanglement.

Was there a better way for the Penguins to respond?

“Just scoring on the power play,” Crosby said. “You start scoring on the power play, I think that tends to settle things down a little bit. But we didn’t do that. They were just better. You don’t like to say that after a game.

“You want to give yourselves a chance every single night and we didn’t do that tonight.”

Nedeljkovic’s night came to a premature ending when he clumsily allowed Stutzle to score his 13th goal at 7:06 of the second period.

Accepting a pass at the right point of the offensive zone, Senators defenseman Nick Jensen lobbed a wrister at the cage. After Giroux tipped the puck from the near circle on net, Nedeljkovic absorbed the shot and seemingly appeared to freeze play, but the puck sat loose behind his backside. Stutzle scurried from the end boards and dragged the rebound from between Nedeljkovic’s legs into the net. Giroux and Jensen had assists.

The Penguins pulled Nedeljkovic after that. His record fell to 7-7-4 after he made 12 saves on 17 shots in 27 minutes of ice time. He was replaced by Jarry, who stopped all five shots he faced in 32:54 of ice time.

In only his seventh career start, Senators rookie goaltender Leevi Merilainen made 29 saves to record his first shutout as an NHLer.

This was the Penguins’ worst loss — at least by goal differential — since a 6-1 thumping at home to the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 27.

They weren’t particularly interested in examining the minutia of why they were so wretched Saturday.

They just know they were awful.

“Throughout the entire game, we were just not good at all,” Karlsson said. “That’s just the way it is. It wasn’t a couple of guys. I think it was the entire lineup, myself included. We did not have the determination or the will to play a tough team today.“

The Penguins will wake up Sunday with another tough opponent as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning shortly after 5 p.m.

They will have plenty of room for improvement after Saturday’s drowsy performance.

“We just weren’t good enough for whatever reason,” Crosby said. “We didn’t execute well. We didn’t win battles. We got outworked. You can’t win like that.”

Notes:

• Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin missed a third consecutive game due to an undisclosed injury. According to Sullivan, Malkin and forward Philip Tomasino — currently designated to injured reserve due to an undisclosed malady — each skated Saturday morning.

• The Penguins gave up a short-handed goal for only the second time this season. The first was in the season opener. Forward Chris Kreider scored for the New York Rangers in a 6-0 road win on Oct. 9.

• The Senators went more than a decade between shutouts against the Penguins. Craig Anderson made 27 saves in a 5-0 home in on Dec. 23, 2013. Karlsson had a goal and two assists for Ottawa.

• Nedeljkovic recorded his first penalty of the season, an unsportsmanlike conduct minor against Batherson at 15:19 of the first period.

• Penguins defensemen Ryan Graves and Ryan Shea were healthy scratches.

• Senators rookie forward Cole Reinhardt did not record a shift after the 7:20 mark of the second period due to an undisclosed injury.

• Giroux leads all active players in career scoring against the Penguins with 76 points (23 goals, 55 assists) in 69 games.

• In 12 career games against the Penguins, Batherson has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists).

• Senators forward Matthew Highmore made his season debut.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at [email protected].

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