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Injuries Not The Reason For Penguins Soulless Effort Against Flyers |
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The Penguins dropped their first game in the home and home series against the Flyers by a score of 4-0. It could be argued that the Penguins effort in the contest was their most soulless and hapless outing of the entire season.
The Penguins have built in reasons, not excuses, on why they could potentially lose games right now. They were missing their three best wingers (Neal, Kunitz, Dupuis) and their two best defensemen (Letang, Martin). However, those players missing the lineup are not the reason for yesterday’s loss.
Yesterday’s loss was due to a lack of interest and effort from the players that did suit up. Even when taking into consideration the divisional lead and the injuries, that just cannot happen.
On top of the lack of effort the Penguins also seemed willing to partake in the extracurricular nonsense that has plagued them in their games with Philadelphia in the past. The Penguins displayed immaturity once again in their battle against the Flyers. This is a disturbing trend and on that is unacceptable on all fronts.
The sequence that sums up the day for Pittsburgh was when Sidney Crosby had a semi breakaway and the Flyers player made a great play to break it up.
It is understandable why Crosby would be upset, but there is absolutely no reason for him to take a hooking penalty because of it. I can understand the frustrations by Crosby and Malkin. They get keyed on every single game regardless if they have the support from proper wingers or not. It is a tall task and one that is probably more mentally grinding than physically when the Penguins injury bug is biting at full force.
I can live with turnovers that involve them trying to do too much. I mean what is the alternative? Dishing to Craig Adams, Taylor Pyatt, Tanner Glass, or Joe Vitale? I’ll take my chances with 87 and 71 even though it might not make for the best hockey decisions. What I can’t tolerate is a frustration penalty because the other team made a good clean hockey play. There is never a place for that.
The nice thing about a home and home is that you get to go right back to rink to try and right some wrongs. The Penguins have an excellent opportunity to prove yesterday was an anomaly and not par for the course. Yesterday's game doesn't have to bleed into today. Those 2 points were lost, they are long gone. Focus on the things that you can control, which is the effort level in today's game. Penguins can't worry about who isn't there, they need to be focused on who is there.
Injuries may be a reason for failure, but that sure wasn’t the reason yesterday. The Penguins need to do a complete 180 in order to beat a motivated and hungry Flyers squad today.
Last but not least it is also worth mentioning that hockey is still fun, enjoy it!
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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