Bryan Rust had a brief analysis of the way the Penguins' opened the second and third periods following Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes at PPG Paints Arena.
"Just got to be more ready."
The Penguins trailed by just one goal at the start of the second period when Jordan Staal scored a goal off of a fluky-looking bounce just nine seconds into the middle frame to put the Hurricanes up by two. The Penguins clawed back after the midway point of the period with goals from Rust and Sidney Crosby to tie the game.
Then it happened again.
Just nine seconds into the third period, Jesper Fast scored off of a wrist shot from the right circle to regain the lead.
Mike Sullivan referred to the openings of periods as "critical moments you've got to make sure you control in order to give yourself the best chance to win."
That didn't happen. But Sullivan didn't think that there's a common thread that linked the two goals, despite both goals coming just nine seconds into the respective periods.
"It's two different scenarios," he explained.
Jeff Carter took the faceoff at the start of the second period, and lost it to Staal. Brett Pesce took a harmless-looking shot from along the boards, and the rebound bounces into the slot. Kris Letang tried to recover the puck but fanned on it. Carter then tried to clear the puck out of the slot, but the puck bounced off of the body of Staal and in.
"We're on defense because we lose the faceoff," Sullivan said. "It's lack of attention to detail."
In the third period, it was Crosby who lined up against Staal for the opening faceoff. Crosby won the draw and sent the puck back to Brian Dumoulin. Dumoulin's attempted pass to Jake Guentzel was picked off and the Hurricanes gained possession:
"We win the faceoff," Sullivan said. "It's lack of execution."
"They're an aggressive team," Brian Dumoulin said of the way the Hurricanes were able to get those goals. "They really try to get up on our forwards and get up on us and take time and space away. Obviously with that faceoff (in the third period), we try to just get behind them with the space play and they take a jump picking it off."
Whether it was due to lack of attention to detail or lack of execution, the outcomes were the same in each case. And, it turns out, they made history:
The @Canes (34-11-4, 72 points) scored four goals – two of which came in the opening nine seconds of the second and third period – to earn a win against the Penguins (31-13-8, 70 points) and bolstered their lead atop the Metropolitan Division.#NHLStats: https://t.co/Y5ov3j4vPk pic.twitter.com/iBHYKMtvvD
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 20, 2022
Sullivan made clear he expects more from his team in those critical moments.
"You know, those are two instances I think, where we'd like to have those back," he said. "I know we're capable of being better in both instances. We weren't tonight. That's a learning opportunity for us."
The Penguins have three more games against the "aggressive" Hurricanes this season, a team that the Penguins could potentially still be in competition with for the division title down the stretch of the season. It'd serve them well to take advantage of these learning opportunities for next time.