In the Penguins' 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes Sunday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena, special teams played a big factor. The Penguins failed to score on either of their two power plays while the Hurricanes went 3 for 5 on their chances.

"Obviously our (penalty kill) wasn't at its at its best," Stuart Skinner said after the game. "They got a couple of lucky bounces, as well. No excuses obviously in this league, but it was a tough game for us."

The first power play goal came with some luck as Sebastian Aho's heavy wrister from behind the left face-off circle ricocheted off Connor Dewar's stick and bounced twice off the ice before it past Skinner. The other two goals were a one-timer blasted by Nikolaj Ehlers and a roofed shot in tight from Seth Jarvis, both more good execution by the Hurricanes than anything else.

"I think it's a really good lesson learned for us as a group and it's a really good lesson learned for me," Skinner said. "We're just going to grow from that and make sure we get better at that."

Outside of the issues with the penalty kill today, Skinner's numbers over his last eight games are a bit concerning. He's not only 1-2-5 during that time, but also has an .876 save percentage during that stretch. 

Skinner did make some key saves, including his first of the game. Ehlers got a partial breakaway and made a good shot, but Skinner shut it down with his glove. The play led to Ryan Graves taking a tripping minor on Ehlers, leading to that first Hurricanes power play goal. Later on, Skinner sprawled out on his stomach and shut down both Jarvis and Aho on multiple chances shorthanded midway through the second period.

With Dan Muse relying so much on the rotation between Skinner and Arturs Silovs, Skinner's numbers are worthy of criticism, or at the very least, concern. The Penguins' schedule doesn't lighten up any time soon. The team doesn't have more than one day off between games until a three-day break on April 6-9. So, Muse will have to keep relying on this rotation.