Oh, snap: Six-game streak ends on odd-man breaks

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Penguins did not have the services of Derick Brassard for Saturday night's game as the newly-acquired center is dealing with work visa issues.

But his new team had issues of its own against the Panthers and it's questionable whether Brassard -- as strong a two-way center in the game as any -- or Bob Gainey or Ron Francis or Patrice Bergeron would have helped much.

In their 6-5 loss here at the BB&T Center, the Penguins showed they can score plenty of goals, seemingly at will in Evgeni Malkin's case. They displayed their heart in overcoming a two-goal third-period deficit despite playing less than 24 hours earlier.

But that is all a moot point when you do not defend and the Penguins simply did not do that nearly well enough early. Not in the neutral zone, where the Panthers were able to generate several odd-man rushes, like this Vincent Trocheck goal to open the scoring. The Penguins are slow getting back and the Upper St. Clair native has a relatively easy path to the net to put in his 24th of the season:

And not in their own end where Tristan Jarry was pulled after giving up four goals on 16 shots midway through the second period. Jarry was removed after kicking out a huge rebound out front that Panthers captain Derek MacKenzie buried for just his fourth of the season. It was Jarry's second loss in three starts, albeit over a month-long span. Does this mean that Casey DeSmith gets recalled? It shouldn't. The Penguins problems on Saturday were bigger than the goalie.

"I don't think playing back to back had anything to do with it," Mike Sullivan said. "Every team plays back to back. The first period wasn't that bad, the scoring chances were even. We gave up a lot of chances off the rush in the first. I thought we got a little too aggressive on our forecheck and gave a up a few odd-man rushes but I thought our energy was there."

Even after having a Patric Hornqvist goal waived off on a controversial goaltender interference call, they were able to come back and make a game out of it. But that meant little to Bryan Rust, who tied the game briefly at 5-5 with 4:50 remaining.

True to form, at least on this night, the Panthers countered quickly when Evgenii Dadonov completed his hat trick with 1:53 remaining. That lead finally proved insurmountable.

“We scored six goals," Dadonov said. "I guess you can’t lose if you score six. You’re not supposed to lose."

Conversely, it was the first time the Penguins gave up six-plus goals since a 7-1 drubbing in Winnipeg on Oct. 29.

"Anytime you fight that hard to claw your way back in the game and have them score that late, I think that makes it sting a little more," said Rust.

The loss snapped the Penguins' six-game winning streak as they fell a point behind the Metro-leading Capitals.

Was it a moral victory? Perhaps, but those don't count for actual points and that's what the Penguins felt they squandered after giving a fairly strong effort. They held a 57-43 percent advantage in possession at even strength, according to HockeyStats.ca. But like so many of their losses this season, they didn't play a full 60 minutes.

"Our guys played hard tonight," Sullivan said. "We competed hard. We stayed right with it. We fought right back into the game. I know we can play a little bit smarter and we have. And I think that's the lesson that we have to learn."

The Penguins return to action Tuesday night at home against the Devils. The Penguins hope to have Brassard by then. They certainly could have used him Saturday in South Florida.

My five thoughts on this game are here.