In the Penguins' 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes Sunday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena, they failed to score on either of their two power plays while the Hurricanes went 3 for 5 on theirs.
"Obviously our PK) wasn't at its at its best," Stuart Skinner said afterward. "They got a couple 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 circle ricocheted off Connor Dewar's stick and bounced twice off the ice before it passed Skinner. The other two were a one-timer blasted by Nikolaj Ehlers and a roofed shot in tight from Seth Jarvis.
"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 gonna grow from that and make sure we get better at that."
He did make some key saves in this one, but his numbers over his past eight starts -- 1-2-5 with an .876 save percentage are cause for legit concern. With Dan Muse relying religiously on the rotation between Skinner and Arturs Silovs, and with the Penguins' schedule not lightening anytime soon -- no more than one day off between games until a three-day break April 6-8 -- this pattern's sure to hold.
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Skinner, penalty-kill struggle
In the Penguins' 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes Sunday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena, they failed to score on either of their two power plays while the Hurricanes went 3 for 5 on theirs.
"Obviously our PK) wasn't at its at its best," Stuart Skinner said afterward. "They got a couple 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 circle ricocheted off Connor Dewar's stick and bounced twice off the ice before it passed Skinner. The other two were a one-timer blasted by Nikolaj Ehlers and a roofed shot in tight from Seth Jarvis.
"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 gonna grow from that and make sure we get better at that."
He did make some key saves in this one, but his numbers over his past eight starts -- 1-2-5 with an .876 save percentage are cause for legit concern. With Dan Muse relying religiously on the rotation between Skinner and Arturs Silovs, and with the Penguins' schedule not lightening anytime soon -- no more than one day off between games until a three-day break April 6-8 -- this pattern's sure to hold.
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