Two clear-as-day quotes could encompass the entirety of this column:

1. "We're missing these guys a lot."
2. "Our goaltender was outstanding."

The first of those came from Dominik Simon, and he might as well have been preaching to the masses in underscoring how much these Penguins are missing -- literally, emotionally, in every way -- five of their very best players following their 4-0 flameout against the Flames on this Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena.

The second was from Darryl Sutter, a man of famously few words, summarizing Jacob Markstrom's 45-save spectacle in the Calgary crease.

Though, really, no words at all were needed:

"

OK, then. So here's a third clear-as-day quote to incorporate that singular sequence, as well:

3. "It was a great chance. He got a stick on it."

That was from Drew O'Connor. And yeah, he kinda did. 

OK, cool, so now that the column's complete, let's boomerang back to No. 1 up there, because it's increasingly appearing as if it's all that counts anymore.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jeff Carter, Bryan Rust ... all missed another game. And even though those left behind continued to acquit themselves well -- a 45-35 advantage in shots is no joke against an opponent that just won all five games of a road trip -- the sum total of their collective effort for this evening and the one Tuesday in the 5-1 loss to the Lightning was a single goal and zero points.

With nothing at all to overthink, if again applying those first two concepts above: The 6-foot-6 Markstrom and the 6-3 Andrei Vasilevskiy, both capable of playing just as big as their statures, did exactly that. And, respectfully, with the Penguins' roster now overflowing with overflow-type talent, no one was able to break through with the big goal or two for the early leads that'd been vital to their early successes.

"You have to give him credit: He made a number of big saves," Mike Sullivan would say of Markstrom. "We had a number of high-quality chances over the course of the game that we couldn't convert."

Not for lack of trying. In addition to the 45 shots, the Penguins attempted 77 in all, and 10 of the 45 that registered were of the high-danger variety.

"He's obviously really big," Mike Matheson would say, also of Markstrom. "You know, the knock on big goalies is that they sometimes don't move too well. And he was great tonight. There were a lot of plays where we were able to get him going east-west, side-to-side, and hopefully open him up ... he did a great job of closing down the angle and making some big saves."

Like this terrific Jake Guentzel one-timer:

"

For what it's worth, I thought Jake had his sharpest showing of the young season. Made a ton happen, often on his own. Same with Kasperi Kapanen, the other of the two struggling top-six wingers who've now combined for a single Guentzel goal over 13 man-games. In this one, each registered four shots, and each was all over the puck.

But that isn't the main issue at hand, either. They'll both score. Especially in Jake's case, there's a history.

No, the issue is that, of those 45 shots the home team dug so deep to unearth, five came off the blade of Mark Friedman, four each came from Danton Heinen, Evan Rodrigues and Sam Lafferty, three from Brock McGinn, two each from Zach Aston-Reese and Simon ... one gets the idea.

Create those same chances for any -- absolutely any -- of the five missing players, and it's a whole new dialogue we're having here. Which is to say nothing of a five-on-three advantage in the second period that saw ... Brian Boyle on the top unit?

Man, those guys'll be welcome back. That's all I'm seeing fit to say about these past two outcomes.

It's one thing for the Penguins to out-hustle opponents and win through "attrition," a term Sullivan applied at one point on the opening Florida trip, but it's a different kind of attrition that's now biting them back. If they don't score first or keep it even early, they lose that vital edge of being able to force the opponent into the errors inherent in cheating to score. And when they lose that, to be blunt, they aren't equipped for comebacks.

There are comebacks at hand, though. Sid's been flying in practice all week, and I'll be outright surprised if he doesn't suit up Saturday night against the Devils. Same goes for Carter, who's eligible to emerge from COVID protocol for practice Friday after having been asymptomatic throughout. Letang's symptomatic and still in protocol, and Malkin and Rust are still in recovery, but two out of five is infinitely better than none.

This was fun for a bit, but it sure wasn't built to last.

photoCaption-photoCredit

JOE SARGENT / GETTY

Jake Guentzel skates away from the Flames' Dillon Dube in the second period Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena.

• Can't state this emphatically enough: For this team, in this circumstance, to be 3-2-2 right now is a minor godsend. And that three of those four losses came to the undefeated Panthers, the two-time champion Bolts and these scorching Flames, that's a minor miracle.

Anyone falling too far behind in this ultra-competitive Metro, whether in October or later on, it'll be close to impossible to catch up. These were very much necessary points.

• On my list of potential problems the Penguins might encounter in 2021-22, I didn't have 'Kapanen will forget how to shoot a hockey puck' on my top 42 million. And yet it just keeps happening:

"
"

Sorry, I've got nothing here. If he isn't hurt, I can't conceive of how someone who rolled out of the womb with this particular skill suddenly loses it.

• That's two games in a row the Teddy Blueger line's given up two even-strength goals. Can't just praise 'em when they're going good.

• The goal that seemingly bugged Sullivan the most, though, came against the Boyle line, 1:04 into the third period, to put Calgary up, 2-0:

""

Easy to see why, too.

Mikael Backlund, who'd just cleaned Boyle on a faceoff in the other circle of the Pittsburgh zone, now does likewise above to Lafferty, the righty put there in hopes of pulling it back on his backhand. From there, Simon's slow to get to Blake Coleman, who's drifting backward as part of a set play to present an umbrella-style option for a shot. And in front, Friedman barely budges 6-2 Tyler Pitlick from DeSmith's view.

Way, way too easy on every single front.

• Not to be absolved, DeSmith could've accomplished a lot more by coming out of the crease and trying to see around the Pitlick screen rather than sticking to the blue paint and ... hoping?

On one hand, seeing Vasilevskiy and Markstrom this week serves to remind that size matters in goaltending. Markstrom sees around or even over the screen simply by existing. And he's got a better chance of having the puck hit him simply by existing. DeSmith, who's listed as 6 feet tall, has to do twice the work on either front.

I've liked little about his camp, his preseason and now the two regular-season starts that've seen nine goals against. 

• It's been about a quarter-century since I've taken either Alberta franchise seriously, but the Flames taking all five while flying through Detroit, Washington, New York, Newark and now here ... that's impressive. I'm not seeing enough natural skill to go far, but a combination of sound structure and the standard Sutter aggressiveness can at least set a framework.

There was plenty of talk on that side afterward about the importance of a fast start, as there'd been all through the trip, this one playing out in a 7-1 shot advantage and Johnny Gaudreau's first goal, a top-shelf snipe over Casey DeSmith's glove.

“It’s always easier to play ahead," Markstrom would say. “It was huge. We got a huge goal from Johnny and defended well the rest of the game. In the third, we knew we had to play our best period, and we did and got some goals, too. A great road trip, and a great last game to close out the road trip.”

• Never stops being cool that Pittsburgh hockey fans have forever sung along with 'O Canada' here. Nice to have it back. Second time in a week.

• I'm sickened beyond words over the Kyle Beach assault and ensuing coverup in Chicago, so I'll keep my thoughts simple and structured: Anyone in authority who had knowledge of this situation should never work in hockey again.

Now including Joel Quenneville's forced resignation last night in Sunrise, that's six of the seven men employed by the Blackhawks who were in the now-infamous 2010 meeting of the Chicago brass in which the matter was discussed. The only one left is Kevin Cheveldayoff, the GM in Winnipeg, and he's got to be next, though it sure sounds like the Jets are ready to stand by their man. Cheveldayoff's meeting with Gary Bettman will take place Friday in New York.

This can't and won't be the last such heinous act. But it can and must be the last that's suppressed or ignored because of an archaic culture.

• I'm heading up the Turnpike this weekend to a place where the nearest sign of life is 143 miles away.

Thanks for reading, as always.

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