Penguins Perspectives: The consistently inconsistent Penguins
Welcome to Penguins Perspectives, a weekly column by KDKA-TV Digital Producer Patrick Damp. Each Friday, Patrick will talk about the week that was, the week to come, what to watch for, and more.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - We'll begin this week's column with a simple caveat: following a five-game win streak, especially against some good competition and on the other side of the continent, the Pittsburgh Penguins have earned some goodwill.
That said, the quest for consistency continues on Fifth Avenue.
Coming into Thursday night's game the Penguins were faced with a golden opportunity - a contender in the Metropolitan Division was without three of its best players, plus it was a team the Penguins have struggled against and not beaten since 2022.
(For perspective - the last time the Penguins beat the Devils, the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl on the same day)
It was a moment for the Penguins to bank a crucial two points in their own division before a treacherous schedule over the next two weeks begins.
Instead, it was a flat performance punctuated by unacceptable goaltending.
Early on, similar to last season, the Penguins' main concern remains consistency.
From the start of the California road trip until Thursday night, the Penguins began showing some signs of life. We all collectively winced as they went into San Jose to play a historically bad team.
The vibes and signs all had us thinking and believing this Penguins team would hand them their first victory.
Instead, they went the other way and blew them out of the water, no pun intended.
This kicked off a stretch of hockey that was extremely encouraging.
Early this year the Penguins were playing a type of hockey they are just no longer equipped to play, partially because they are older and partially because the NHL has caught up to them.
Mike Sullivan adapted his system to scale back the pressure in the forecheck and make the neutral zone, not the offensive zone, the key to the team's success.
Now, as my colleague and friend Jesse Marshall of The Athletic has pointed out, the Penguins outnumber their opponent in the neutral zone which forces turnovers, broken zone entries, and dump-ins which lead to a kick-started breakout and mismatches going the other way.
The Penguins did this to great success against teams like Colorado, Anaheim, Buffalo, and a couple of others.
Then came Columbus.
The Penguins were back to their old ways - trying to play a run-and-gun style, extremely aggressive, and on top of it all, their goaltender was struggling.
They were able to get away with it because Columbus finds themselves in the midst of a rebuild, and putting it lightly, it's not going well.
Even with New Jersey missing three of its top players, it's still a very young, very talented, and very fast team.
Last night, it came back to bite them.
It also shows a flaw in this roster - the goalie.
I've already used this column to talk about the "Trouble With Tristan" - twice, as a matter of fact - so we won't completely rehash that.
However, last night was a prime example of what a $5 million goaltender cannot be. On a night when your skaters aren't at their best and your opponent finds itself without its best players and in the midst of a three-game losing skid, that's a night for Tristan Jarry to pick up his team.
Does he need to steal games? No, that's unrealistic to ask of a goalie on a team with this much offensive talent. But on nights like Thursday, he has to be the backbone that keeps the team above water until they can get it together.
A sub-.900 save percentage is not acceptable.
That, dear reader, is the microcosm of the past two years of Penguins hockey. A journey that lacks any kind of consistency from game to game.
Again, following an impressive five-game winning streak, this team has re-earned some of the benefit of the doubt, but I would be lying if there aren't warning signs.
The pieces of a contender are here, now putting that puzzle together consistently remains the challenge.