RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Penguins talked about gaining traction after a comeback win.
They talked about becoming a tougher team to play against.
They talked about putting together a full 60-minute effort.
They talked about getting shots on net.
Detect a trend here? These Penguins talk a far better game than they play.
They did absolutely none of the above in Friday night's 2-1 loss to the Hurricanes at PNC Arena, a loss that leaves them just a point out of the basement in the Metropolitan Division.
The Penguins did manage to get that all-important "good start" they like talking about, though, after Brian Dumoulin scored at 4:34 of the first period. They had been 15-3-2 when scoring first but, in the end, that -- and seemingly everything else -- didn't matter:
"(Carolina) likes to come out strong in their own building," Mike Sullivan said. "We get the first goal, we accomplish what we wanted in that first period, but I thought there was a letdown in the second period and we spent a lot of time in our defensive zone. They played a pretty simple game: North-south, straight ahead and played behind us. It was really puck pursuit. They forechecked and we didn't handle the pressure the way we needed to."
Carolina, a team that had been even in the Metro standings with Pittsburgh, has now pulled ahead thanks to a 7-1 run. The Penguins, who had won seven in row over the Hurricanes before Friday, now have seven losses in their last 11 games with only one regulation win over that span.
This is a team that, without some sort of overhaul, is going nowhere. Friday was only further proof of that.
1. You can't shoot if you don't have the puck.
The record will note that the Penguins were outshot 33-29, but that is a bit misleading. The Penguins had just 14 of those 29 shots through two periods. Twenty-nine also tied for the fifth-fewest they've put on net in a game this season.
In order to shoot the puck though, you have to, you know, possess the puck. The Penguins didn't do nearly enough of that, particularly in the second period.
According to HockeyStats.ca, the Hurricanes held a whopping 58 to 42 percent advantage in Corsi For (all situations). The Penguins had just 47 attempts to Carolina's 65. That's a stunning indictment given the Penguins' offensive firepower.
There was nothing aesthetically remarkable about Bill Peters' Hurricanes but, man, they were effective in playing keepaway from the Penguins stars, who grew visibly frustrated.
Jordan Staal's line with Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen were matched up extensively against the Evgeni Malkin line. The trio managed to do what few had done recently: They shut down the Russian. Malkin had just two shots after scoring seven points (four goals) in his previous five games. Here, Malkin is thwarted by Justin Williams on a strong backcheck.
"For the most part we managed the puck really good, they pushed, too, and they've got the ability to push. They rolled 87 and 71 all the time," Peters said. "I thought the guys, I thought on the back there was a good competing battle, and Wardo was solid, obviously."
Cam Ward looked like Cam Ward circa 2006 against a Penguins team that has hit the skids. None of his saves were spectacular but he didn't need to be.
"We had to try and turn the tables on them by spending time in the offensive zone hanging onto pucks, forcing them to have to expend energy to defend us," Sullivan said. "I don't think we were stiff enough on pucks in the offensive zone and we needed to do a better job as a group handling their pressure on their puck pursuit."
2. Tristan Jarry was inconsistent.
Jarry was a nice story earlier this month when he won four straight games while Murray was sidelined, but we're well past the feel-good stories. Bottom line: The Penguins need wins. Nobody is asking Jarry to singlehandedly win games, but he has to give his team a chance to win. That can't be said lately.
Jarry has now lost three of his last four starts after taking the 'L' on Friday. The rookie wasn't bad, as much as he was sporadic. He did make this point-blank stop on Jordan Staal on Carolina's first power play chance:
Jarry even had a great blocker stop on a shot from Brock McGinn from the high slot at 8:30 of the second. But in a second period in which the Penguins were outshot 14-7, they needed Jarry to stand on his head and he didn't. Both Hurricanes goals -- and another that was disallowed -- came in the fateful second period.
On Derek Ryan's tying goal at 6:25 of the second, Jarry slid his way out of position attempting an over-aggressive pokecheck on Elias Lindholm's wraparound attempt. Lindholm found Ryan at the side of the net for a tap-in.
"After I made the pokecheck on (Lindholm) going around the net, I was trying to get myself back and find the puck as quick as I could. By the time I found it and slid over it was through me."
Then at 18:05 of the second, with a little help from a Jake Guentzel turnover, Jarry did this. Pokechecking the puck to anyone, let alone a player of Sebastian Aho's pedigree isn't a great idea:
"I saw their guy coming through the middle, he lost the puck, I was just trying to get it away from him and not picking it up again. I end up pokechecking it straight to their guys and wasn't able to get over to it."
Matt Murray, who is day-to-day with an upper body injury, worked with Mike Buckley after the morning skate and looks close to returning, possibly as soon as Sunday in Detroit.
3. The power play stinks on the road.
It's common knowledge the Penguins have only gotten as far as they have this season thanks to their second-ranked power play (25.2). Think they're bad now? Imagine where they'd be without it.
Somehow they still have the NHL's top-ranked road power play, tied with Tampa Bay, at 26.2 percent. But you wouldn't know it by watching Friday or, for that matter, the last month.
The Penguins went 0-for-2 against Carolina's 25th-ranked penalty kill, which brings their road drought to five games and 15 scoreless opportunities with the man advantage. They last scored on the power play in their road whites on Nov. 24 at Boston (Jake Guentzel at 1:02 of the second period, if you can remember back that far).
Against the Hurricanes, the Penguins managed just four shots, but the bigger problem was that they were being outworked for 50-50 pucks. Both power play chances came with the Hurricanes leading, but there was no urgency in the Penguins. Worse, Phil Kessel even iced the puck on an errant pass on their second chance early in the third:
4. Where were the new guys?
Andrey Pedan looked like a kid in a candy store after the morning skate, eager to show what he could do again at the NHL level. Alas, the gigantic Lithuanian, and fellow minor-league call-up Garrett Wilson, were both healthy scratches Friday night.
Sullivan played coy earlier in the day with his lineup but then opted to go a more conservative route, playing Frank Corrado over Pedan and, presumably, Tom Kuhnhackl over Wilson. That may have been the prudent call, but it wasn't exactly the jolt of energy that this team clearly needs.
Which leads to this ...
Elsewhere on Friday, Daniel Sprong -- yes, the one whom fans have been clamoring for weeks for -- recorded his second hat trick of the season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's 5-1 win over Hartford. Sprong now has 18 goals in 29 games in the AHL:
Earlier Friday, Sullivan said the decision to recall Sprong or anyone else was based on one overriding criterion: "Who is going to help the Penguins win right now?"
"Daniel's a guy that has the ability to score goals, and so there are other aspects of his game that he's continuing to try and work on in order for him to be a more complete player so that when he does become a Pittsburgh Penguin, he has the ability to make a positive impact," Sullivan said.
Well, the Penguins aren't winning and they're not scoring and they have no energy. Sprong might not be a Selke candidate but neither are the 12 other forwards who dressed Friday. It's time to make him a Pittsburgh Penguin. Pronto.
5. The Penguins could have easily been shut out.
Truth be told, they probably should not have had their good start ... which they later squandered, anyway.
Dumoulin's first-period goal looked to be offsides when Patric Hornqvist collided with Justin Williams at the blue line. There was no interference called, nor was it ruled offsides. Even in slow motion, it's hard to tell if Hornqvist's skate is in the air or touching the blueline as he crosses, but we'll never know:
The problem is that Peters didn't want to risk taking a minor penalty if he lost the challenge, especially early in a scoreless game.
Of all the reasons to get rid of video reviews -- like Sidney Crosby's non-game-winner Wednesday night vs. Columbus -- this is another pretty compelling argument. Why should a team be punished for merely wanting to get a call right? It makes no sense.