The problem, Mike Sullivan said, was not that the Penguins didn't send enough bodies toward Boston goalie Tuukka Rask.
And launching an adequate number of pucks at him -- the final, official count stood at 26 -- hadn't been an issue, either.
No, the real difficulty for the Penguins during their 3-1 loss to the Bruins at PPG Paints Arena Tuesday night, he said, was rooted in the simple truth that those two things didn't happen simultaneously very often.
Rask, when on his game, is one of the world's premier goaltenders, capable of stopping just about everything he sees.
And he was allowed to see just about everything on this night.
"We could have done a better job, I thought, getting pucks (to the front of the net)," Sullivan said. "When we had traffic, it seemed like we couldn't get the puck there. If we got the puck there, we didn't have traffic. It just seemed like it was one of those nights."
The Bruins, of course, specialize in giving opponents nights of that sort.
"They don't give up much." Bryan Rust said. "They obviously have good defense, good goaltending."
Rask's teammates stopped 21 shots before they could get to him -- "That's a lot of blocked shots," said Sullivan, whose team was credited with seven -- and effectively cleared just about every rebound that he allowed. Consequently, the Penguins had precious few second-chance opportunities from anywhere near Rask's crease.
"When we've been successful, we've had a lot of net-front chances," Teddy Blueger said. "Make it hard for the goalie, whether it's rebounds or take away his eyes or tips or what-have-you. I don't think we had a whole lot of clean looks at the net tonight. The ones we did, we didn't make it hard enough on him "
The lone shot that eluded Rask even though he got a good look at it came off the stick of Jeff Carter, who beat him from above the right dot at 17:39 of the third period.
However, that didn't accomplish much other than costing Rask his shutout bid and trimming the Penguins' margin of defeat to two goals.
Boston had seized control of the game nearly a full period earlier, when David Krejci broke a 0-0 tie with an inspired individual effort.
He took a pass from defenseman Charlie McAvoy and charged down the slot toward Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson, then pulled the puck onto his backhand and moved into the left circle before throwing a nasty shot past Tristan Jarry's glove at 18:10 of the second.
"That's my fault," Matheson said. "I came off the bench and didn't get my gap and put myself in a bad spot. I had no gap and was flat-footed."
Perhaps, but it still was an exceptional play by Krejci.
It tilted what had been a fairly even, competitive game in Boston's favor, and Brad Marchand got what proved to be the game-winner at 9:11 of the third, knocking in a David Pastrnak rebound from the right side of the crease.
Boston's victory came in the wake of a 1-0 loss to the Penguins Sunday, and a split of those games seemed an equitable outcome.
"I thought both teams competed hard in both games," Sullivan said.
The Penguins had a slight edge in the first game, though, while the rematch skewed in the Bruins' favor.
"It seemed like we were second-best in most categories throughout the game," Blueger said.
The loss dropped the Penguins into second place in the East Division, one point behind Washington. They are four ahead of the New York Islanders, who are third, and five up on the Bruins, who have two games in hand.
Their magic number for clinching a playoff berth remains four, with the fifth-place New York Rangers the only team with a mathematical chance of pushing them out of the postseason field.
While it surely was scant, if any, consolation, for the Penguins, Philadelphia's 6-4 loss at New Jersey assured that the Penguins will finish the season ahead of the Flyers, who are sixth in the East.
The Penguins lost the season series to Boston, 3-4-1, and conceivably could face the Bruins again in Round 1 of the playoffs. The next order of business, though, is a pair of games in against the first-place Capitals Thursday and Saturday in Washington.
"We check the standings a lot, especially this time of year," Matheson said. "This is the most exciting part of the season, as you're building toward the playoffs and locking in a position, then jockeying for positions, within the playoff race.
"These were the two biggest games of the year, and our next two against Washington are even that much bigger."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Taylor Hall's goal at 12:18 of the third period didn't have much of an outcome, since it swelled Boston's lead to 3-0, but it did have to make the Bruins' front office feel good. Hall had been acquired at the trade deadline to provide some secondary scoring and that goal, which he rifled over Jarry's shoulder from the slot, is precisely what the Bruins are hoping he can contribute on a regular basis.
• The Penguins won just 26 of 60 faceoffs, but the evening started a lot worse than that for them, as the Bruins won 16 of 20 during the opening period. Sidney Crosby, who went 4-4, was the only Penguin to control a draw during those 20 minutes. He finished 16-13, and was the only Penguins to take more than two and finish above .500.
• Crosby and his linemates, Jake Guentzel and Rust, were on the ice for all three Bruins goals.
• Boston outhit the Penguins, 50-25. including a game-high six each from Sean Kuraly and Jeremy Lauzon.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. David Krejci, Bruins
2. Tuukka Rask, Bruins
3. Brad Marchand, Bruins
THE INJURIES
• Center Evgeni Malkin has returned to practice after sustaining an unspecified lower-body injury March 16.
• Winger Brandon Tanev has resumed skating after suffering an unspecified upper-body injury April 3.
• Forward Frederick Gaudreau is back to practice, albeit without contact, after sustaining an unspecified lower-body injury April 11.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Jared McCann-Jeff Carter-Jason Zucker
Zach Aston-Reese-Teddy Blueger-Kasperi Kapanen
Colton Sceviour-Mark Jankowski-Evan Rodrigues
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Mike Matheson-Cody Ceci
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
And for Bruce Cassidy's Bruins:
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall-David Krejci-Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie-Sean Kuraly-Charlie Coyle
Trent Frederic-Curtis Lazar-Chris Wagner
Matt Grzelcyk-Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly-Kevan Miller
Jeremy Lauzon-Connor Clifton
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins are scheduled to practice Wednesday at noon in Cranberry before traveling to Washington for games against the Capitals Thursday and Saturday.
THE CONTENT
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