SUNRISE, Fla. -- This loss, Matt Murray suggested, was entirely his fault.
If he keeps that first Florida goal out of his net, it's a different game, and probably a different result.
Very magnanimous of him.
Murray figures if a harmless-looking Noel Acciari shot hadn't hit his blocker before tumbling through the air, bouncing off his back and dropping into the net at 10:54 of the second period, the Penguins don't end up with a 4-2 defeat Tuesday night at BB&T Center, their second loss in a row:
"It just took a funny bounce off my blocker, and I lost it," Murray said. "That ends up being the difference in the game, I think, because the push they got after that, they kind of got momentum from that. That's on me. That was the difference in the game, I think."
But to give Murray sole responsibility for the outcome would be to absolve his teammates of playing most of the game without the focus and efficient execution that has been the hallmark of their play in recent weeks. It would remove blame from a power play that struggled mightily to get into the Panthers' end for more than a minute on its only opportunity. It would excuse what was, overall, the Penguins' most lackluster performance since a 4-1 defeat to the Jets in the third game of the season.
That doesn't mean that Acciari's fluky goal wasn't a factor -- "It's a nothing play, and it ends up in our net," Mike Sullivan said -- but Murray's teammates certainly didn't pin the defeat on him. Or themselves, for that matter.
Although Zach Aston-Reese acknowledged that the Penguins committed "some mental mistakes, like turnovers at tough areas of the ice ... and there were a few times when we couldn't get the puck in the zone," most of his teammates talked more about how difficult scoring opportunities were to come by.
"There weren't a lot of chances," Sidney Crosby said. "A pretty tight-checking game from both teams. You expect a close game, and that's what we got."
A fair point, but that's why limiting glaring mistakes was critical, and the Penguins were guilty of a ghastly one on the goal that put Florida in front to stay.
They had the puck near their blue line and were in position to get it into the neutral zone, but turned it over. A few seconds later, Jonathan Huberdeau set up Denis Malgin low in the left circle for a 2-1 lead with two minutes left in the second period.
Huberdeau then got the game-winner at 13:42 of the third, when he deflected an Anton Stralman shot out of the air and past Murray to make it 3-1:
Patric Hornqvist countered for the Penguins 43 seconds later, the second time they got a goal while Florida was still celebrating one of its own:
Just 63 seconds after Acciari's goal, Teddy Blueger had converted a setup by Jake Guentzel to tie the game, 1-1:
"I love our resilience," Sullivan said.
That's understandable, and he had to like the urgency his team showed after the Panthers went up by two. But it was not until then that the Penguins played the way they had for so much of the time since stumbling to a 1-2 start in the early days of the season.
"We pushed to get back in it," Crosby said. "But it's hard to be down two with six minutes left."
Too hard, it seems, because Frank Vatrano snuffed whatever comeback hopes the Penguins had by scoring into an empty net with 1:03 to go in regulation.
That sealed the outcome, but didn't seem to sour Sullivan on anything that had transpired during the previous 2 1/2 hours. Rather that fixate on the shortcomings that likely cost the Penguins a point or two, he opted to praise their effort.
"I love how our team's competing,' Sullivan said. "We're competing hard. We're in a one-goal hockey game. That game could go either way. It didn't go our way tonight, but we're playing hard."
Until some of the prominent contributors who have been forced from their lineup by injuries are able to return, the Penguins don't have much choice but to put forth a sustained, focused effort every night. Not if the idea is to win a few games, that is.
"We're taking it a game at a time," Crosby said. "You look at the last two games, we easily could have gotten a different result. We could have won those."
What really matters, though, is that they didn't win either.
• Jared McCann returned to the Penguins' lineup after sitting out their 3-0 loss to Vegas last Saturday. He centered the second line and played 12 minutes, nine seconds, during which he won eight of 10 faceoffs. With McCann back in the lineup, Sam Lafferty shifted from the second line to the fourth.
• The victory was just Florida's second in regulation in its past 16 meetings with the Penguins, who are 4-2-3 in their past nine visits to Sunrise.
• Panthers center Vincent Trocheck -- has anyone ever mentioned that he's from Upper St. Clair? -- missed the game because of an unspecified injury, apparently caused by a shot he blocked last Saturday. Florida also was missing defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who was ill.
• Crosby had a rare off-night on draws, going 4-10.
• Florida ended up being credited with a 31-12 edge in hits.
• Hornqvist served as an alternate captain for the second game in a row, filling a role usually held by injured defenseman Brian Dumoulin.
• The Penguins' power play is in an 0-for-11 slump.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE INJURIES
• Evgeni Malkin (unspecified, lower-body) is on Long-Term Injured Reserve
• Brian Dumoulin (undisclosed)
• Nick Bjugstad (unspecified, lower-body) is on injured reserve
• Alex Galchenyuk (unspecified, lower-body) is on injured reserve
• Bryan Rust (hand) is on LTIR
• Zach Trotman (sports hernia surgery) is on LTIR
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Dominik Simon
Dominik Kahun -- Jared McCann -- Patric Hornqvist
Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Adam Johnson -- Joseph Blandisi -- Sam Lafferty
Kris Letang -- John Marino
Marcus Pettersson -- Justin Schultz
Jack Johnson -- Erik Gudbranson
And for Joel Quenneville's Panthers:
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Mike Hoffman -- Brian Boyle -- Brett Connolly
Frank Vatrano -- Denis Malgin -- Jayce Hawryluk
Dryden Hunt -- Noel Acciari -- Colton Sceviour
Mike Matheson -- Anton Stralman
Mackenzie Weegar -- Mark Pysyk
Keith Yandle -- Josh Brown
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will visit Tampa Wednesday at 8:08 p.m., then travel to Dallas, where they will have a day off Thursday before practicing Friday and facing the Stars Saturday at 8:08 p.m. The team will have no morning skate Wednesday. Sullivan will be available to reporters at 6 p.m.
THE COVERAGE
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