LAS VEGAS -- In a perfect scenario from the Pittsburgh perspective, the Penguins would have pounded 58 shots on goal and put one behind Marc-Andre Fleury to beat him.
Of course, if you've watched the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions of late, you'd know there has been nothing perfect about them.
They dropped their third in a row, fourth in five games, Thursday, losing, 2-1, to Fleury and the expansion Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on an emotional evening that left the reeling visitors, including Matt Murray, searching for answers afterward:
If you're counting, it was the second straight game where the Penguins failed to score more than one goal and their fifth straight game decided by a goal, the types of games that championship-caliber teams find ways to win. That's just not what they are through 33 games at 16-14-3, eighth in the Eastern Conference with the Bruins just a point behind, the Flyers two behind.
"When it's going like this," Sidney Crosby said, "it seems you're finding ways to lose instead of win."
BRADFORD'S FIVE THOUGHTS
1. Is this rock bottom? They'd better hope so.
This is the Penguins' second three-game losing streak in less than a month, in addition to the one against the Blackhawks, Canucks and Bruins Nov. 18-24. But this one feels different. This just might be as bad as it gets.
Ideally, anyway.
If Jim Rutherford was merely considering making changes before this game, that urgency could only have heightened. In a sign that perhaps that a shakeup is coming sooner rather than later, Mario Lemieux was seen leaving the visitors' locker room a good 25 minutes after his team's latest loss, and Mike Sullivan's postgame press conference was delayed.
Clearly, the Penguins are in need of some sort of fix before this season spirals out of control.
They appear lost, not getting contributions from complementary players who have been huge parts of the past two postseason runs. Guys like Conor Sheary, who has a goal and two assists in his past 13 games while skating on a line with Crosby. And Bryan Rust, who has two goals in his past 14 games and, for this game, found himself on the fourth line with Carter Rowney and Ryan Reaves.
"We expect to win every game we play, and that's certainly what's important to this team," Ian Cole said. "Obviously, losing any game, especially multiple games in a short stretch, should certainly open some eyes and make guys realize that whatever they're doing, it's not enough."
Cole scored the Penguins' lone goal on an acrobatic twist of a pass from Carl Hagelin in the first period:
It wasn't enough.
2. Matt Murray could use a couple goals, too.
The much-anticipated Murray vs. Fleury showdown lived up to its billing as both goaltenders were spectacular at times.
In his first action since Nov. 27, Murray predictably looked a little rusty, fighting the puck a bit early before he quickly settled down to make 24 saves.
Still, he was none too pleased after allowing this Jon Merrill one-timer that went down as the game-winner at 8:17 of the third:
"Felt pretty mediocre," Murray said of the goal. "That last one was a backbreaker."
He might have wanted that back but not nearly as much as Brian Dumoulin, who coughed up the puck in the neutral zone to Erik Haula, who fed a drop pass to Merrill, who blasted it low glove side. Even worse, Dumoulin screened Murray on the shot.
Murray acknowledged he needed to be crisper and more assertive, which might be true, but, bottom line, he can't be expected to win without any scoring support, either.
Said Sullivan of his goalie:
Of course, the star of the night was Fleury, who won his first game against his former team after having entered the NHL in 2003. He made 24 saves, including a brilliant chest stop on Dumoulin in the second that was strikingly reminiscent of his save on Nicklas Lidstrom in the waning seconds of Game 7 of the 2009 Cup Final.
"I tried to remind myself it was just another game, just two points I needed, but once you get out there and you see all these guys, you want to do well," Fleury said. "A little pride. The next time I see them, I don't want them to be talking about their goals. I want to tell them I saved them."
Of the Lidstrom-esque save, Fleury confessed with a laugh he was reminded of that: "A little bit, yeah. I haven't done that too much since. A quick memory popped up. But that's good. It was no goal, so ..."
If Thursday wasn't just another game for him, one can only imagine what the return to Pittsburgh on Feb. 6 will be like. The capacity-plus crowd of 18,029, probably half of them cheering for the Penguins, roared when Fleury was introduced, so, in a sense, it might have been a precursor.
"I'm glad this one's over," Fleury said. "Still got another one to go."
Sullivan downplayed the notion that his team might have been caught up in that aspect of the night.
"I thought they did a pretty good job," he said of his players containing their emotions.
He couldn't say the same for pretty much everything else. With the exception of that Dumoulin miss and Crosby's short-side chance in the third that clanged off the crossbar, the Penguins didn't make Fleury work very hard. The Penguins had just nine shots on goal with 7:30 remaining in the second period.
"I thought it did," Crosby said of that chance entering the net. "That's the way it's going right now. Maybe it's a different game if that goes in."
The captain was held without a shot on goal for the third time this season.
3. This didn't work with Jarome, you know.
As Patric Hornqvist was leaving T-Mobile Arena after Thursday's morning skate, he was looking over a pair of sticks that were lined up just outside the dressing room door. A reporter asked (facetiously) if he was looking for a left-handed stick, drawing a laugh from the usually intense Swede.
Hornqvist made his debut on left wing -- on a second line with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel -- and let's just say it left more than a little to be desired.
That's not a knock. Hornqvist continues to be one of the Penguins' most consistent performers and by far their best net-front presence. But after 10 years in the NHL on one side, it's a bit much to expect him to switch sides now. (See Iginla, Jarome, circa spring 2013).
That showed primarily with Hornqvist looking uncomfortable in his defensive zone, receiving breakout passes on his backhand, as well as recognizing his assignments.
In this 5-on-5 below in the middle of the second period, Vegas dominates possession for a long stretch. If you hadn't known better, you'd have thought it a power play:
4. Whose puck is it, anyway?
Many of the Penguins' problems this season have revolved around recurring themes like poor starts (I'll get to that in No. 5) and a lack of offensive production from their bottom six.
On Thursday, they added a new one: The Penguins were extremely careless with the puck, and not just Dumoulin on Merrill's winner.
Officially, they were assessed four giveaways to Vegas' five, but there were clearly more. Matt Hunwick was especially generous late in the game, and Kris Letang continues to struggle mightily in that department. As a puck-possession team, the Penguins are always going to have more turnovers, but they can't keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
On Thursday, they passed up scoring chances, instead of just keeping things simple and getting pucks on net.
"I think when they got the go-ahead goal, we pressed a little bit to create offense and, when we do that, we sometimes we become a high-risk team," Sullivan said. "You're only one shot away. You still have to stay with the game plan and make sure you defend when the time is called upon. When it's time to defend, you've got to take care of the puck."
5. Will these slow starts ever stop?
The Penguins have spoken ad nauseam about getting off to better starts. So of course they went and did this ...
James Neal scored his 15th just 1:21 in on a rebound that Murray couldn't corral. After missing two weeks, Murray was predictably a little rusty to start. The bigger problem, however, is how a former 40-goal scorer like Neal was left alone to the right of the net.
First, Hornqvist and/or Phil Kessel left Colin Miller alone at the point. Hornqvist, again, was playing out of position and probably shouldn't have been back at right wing defensively, but communication could have solved that.
Then, Olli Maatta -- paired with Chad Ruwhedel in one of Sullivan's moves -- failed to block the Miller shot and was then late getting over to Neal.
Rinse and repeat.
Reaves spoke in the morning about the need to not overthink things, especially on the first shift. He's an enforcer who plays sparingly, but he made a valid point. In fact, if he's going to play 6:47 a night, the Penguins might be better served employing him -- and their checking lines -- earlier.
They just needed to get out of the first 5-10 minutes even, particularly against a Vegas team that figured to come out flying at home, given the circumstances. Which is exactly what the Knights did, and Vegas is now 14-1 when scoring first.
The Penguins, by contrast, are now 2-11-1 when their opponent scores first. For a team loaded with offensive ability and championship pedigree, their inability to come back is staggering.
"Obviously, it's been a problem this far in the year," Cole was telling me afterward. "We better figure out what it is. Obviously, I don't think we have a recipe for better starts, otherwise we would have done it already. It's been happening far too often. We need to figure out what it is, and certainly change it."
