A post-Christmas rut has added to the overall frustration of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
However, they still find themselves in better shape than the Buffalo Sabres.
The Penguins begin a season-high seven-game road stretch looking to avoid a fourth straight defeat Friday night against the Eastern Conference cellar-dwelling Sabres, who have won three of their last four.
Pittsburgh entered the Christmas break amid a 9-3-1 stretch but is 2-5-3 since then. The Penguins have been outscored 14-4 during their three-game slide, and blew a 2-1 lead Tuesday by allowing Seattle to score twice in a 50-second span during the third period of a 4-2 loss.
“We felt like we did a lot of good things (Tuesday) but found (a way to lose),” said Pittsburgh superstar Sidney Crosby, who’s managed just one point in the last three games.
“We need to find a way to win games.”
Pittsburgh is on the outside of the playoff picture in the East and hopes to snap an 0-3-2 road slide.
“We understand everything,” said fellow Penguins star Evgeni Malkin, who recorded an assist Tuesday in his return from missing four games with an upper-body injury.
“If we want to play in the playoffs, we need to play so much better in every zone, every moment, every detail.”
One day after stopping 14 of 17 shots against the Kraken, veteran goaltender Tristan Jarry (8-8-4, .884 save percentage, 3.31 goals-against average this season) was waived by the Penguins.
That leaves Alex Nedeljkovic (7-7-4, 3.40 GAA, .886 save percentage) as the team’s No. 1 goaltending option, with rookie Joel Blomqvist (3-5-0, 3.60 GAA, .904 save percentage) in a backup role.
Blomqvist stopped 26 of 28 shots in relief of Jarry during Pittsburgh’s 6-5 overtime home victory over Buffalo on Oct. 16. Crosby scored the winner in the extra session and had two assists, while Malkin notched his 500th career goal and added three helpers.
JJ Peterka had two goals, while Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Jason Zucker totaled five points in that loss at Pittsburgh, which is five points ahead of the Sabres in the conference.
Thompson, Tuch and Tucker combined for four assists and Ryan McLeod posted his first career hat trick during Buffalo’s 4-2 home victory over Carolina on Wednesday.
Though last in the East, the Sabres have scored four times in each of their last three wins.
“Just stay calm,” McLeod said. “We’ve worked on this for this little while. We know what we’re doing.
“As a team, we’re trying to build.”
An aggressive approach with the puck — and overall — has fueled the Sabres of late. They hope that trend continues, especially against a fragile club like the Penguins.
“We were more aggressive (especially versus Carolina),” said Buffalo’s Dylan Cozens, who scored for the second time in three games Wednesday.
“We were assertive and played with confidence.”
Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves for his third win in four starts. He stopped 37 shots at Pittsburgh earlier this season.
McLeod, who scored against the Penguins in October, has four goals and two assists in his last three games.
Against Buffalo, Crosby has 85 points (29 goals, 56 assists) in 60 games, while Malkin has 73 points (22 goals, 51 assists) in 54 games.
–Field Level Media
