Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby Calls Out his Team after Crushing Losses
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-USA Today Sports
Pittsburgh's coaching staff made a number of lineup changes on Sunday in Winnipeg following the team's lackluster home loss to Carolina. But things haven't changed.
Instead of instability between the pipes, Sidney Crosby thinks the Pittsburgh Penguins' shaky start to the season is due to a lack of structure on the ice. The Penguins had many positive moments during the game, and the changes helped give them some life early on.
"It's not our goalies," Crosby told The Athletic's Josh Yohe following Sunday's 6-3 defeat to the Winnipeg Jets. "It's on us to play better in front of them."
"I thought we did some good things. Obviously, we're giving too much up,» Crosby said as the Penguins - now 3-4 on the season - surrendered at least four goals for the sixth time. «We can't give up what we're giving up and expect to win consistently. So, defensively, we got to find another level."
"I thought we did some good things. Obviously, we're giving too much up,» Crosby said as the Penguins - now 3-4 on the season - surrendered at least four goals for the sixth time. «We can't give up what we're giving up and expect to win consistently. So, defensively, we got to find another level."
The Penguins now lead the league with 31 goals against after the loss, which dropped Pittsburgh to 3-4-0 on the season. Rookie Joel Blomqvist is 2-2 in four games with a .908 save percentage, while regular No. 1 goalie Tristan Jarry has recorded a dismal .836 save percentage in three games.
On Sunday, Alex Nedeljkovic made his season debut, but the defensemen ahead of him continued to perform poorly.
The Penguins blue line undoubtedly deserves some of the blame for placing Nedeljkovic in some extremely difficult situations, even though he ended up finishing the game with a .861 save percentage after giving up 5 goals on 36 shots.
"We're giving up odd-man rushes," Crosby said. "We're not getting clears." He added: "Look at the game-winner. I lose the faceoff. Then I don't get my guy. And it ends up in the back of the net."
After missing out on the playoffs the previous two seasons, the Penguins are under tremendous pressure to qualify this year. Crosby signed a two-year extension starting in 2025-2026, reaffirming his intention to win in Pittsburgh during the offseason.
Pittsburgh has been outscored 20-6 in four of its seven games thus far against last season's playoff teams. The Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, and Montreal Canadiens have all been defeated by the Penguins in their last three games.
"We can't keep giving up five or six goals a game if we want to win," Crosby said.
With data recently compiled by J Fresh Hockey from Top Down Hockey showing that the Penguins have one of the highest expected goals against at 5 on 5 among the NHL's 32 teams, the advanced analytics seem to support the idea that the team as a whole could use some defensive improvement.
"At the end of the day, performance matters. We're going to try and put people in the lineup who give us the best chance to win at all the respective positions. That's ultimately what we're trying to do. As a coach, sometimes there's big picture stuff, and there's short-term things we think about when we're making those decisions. Urgency is always going to be part of the discussion with respect to how we make decisions on a game by game basis With the parity in the league the way it is, two points in October are a real important two points when you're in the first week of April."
It will be fascinating to watch where the Penguins go from here.
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