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Worst Game of the Season? Bolts Defeat Pens

March 31, 2010, 11:04 PM ET [ Comments]

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Game-Day Post

Bolts Defeat Pens

Wednesday's 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning was one of the worst, if not the worst performance, by the Pittsburgh squad this season.

"It was pretty bad," captain Sidney Crosby said. "There’s no trying to make something positive out of it. We didn’t do anything that was positive. That’s pretty much it."

Steven Stamkos and Steve Downie each scored for Tampa Bay on a night where Pittsburgh could get nothing going. Every pass, every shot, every dump in, every breakout, was just off.

Crosby sites a lack of preparation and maybe a little bit of looking past the Lightning, who sit near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

"We weren’t ready to play," Crosby said. "That’s what it comes down to. We thought we were going to play a team that had laid down and was out of the playoffs. And we were just going to show up. It didn’t happen. We basically got what we deserved."

The Penguins looked sloppy while going 0-4 on the power play. Even the mighty Pittsburgh penalty killing unit let up a goal to Tampa Bay's man advantage.

Defenseman Brooks Orpik was not sugarcoating anything after the game.

"We got outworked. We got out-battled," Orpik said. "There’s nothing really else to it. They were a team that has nothing to play for. And they showed up and just outworked us."

The Lightning already have had a rough season, and currently their lineup is decimated by injuries, making the loss even harder to swallow for the Penguins.

"With all do respect, they had four guys in their lineup I’ve never even heard of," Orpik said. "They’ve got nothing to play for and they come and outwork us in our building. That’s a little concerning."

The team was scheduled to have a day off on Thursday, but after this lackluster play against the Lightning, the Penguins will hold practice instead.

With the Penguins' loss and Buffalo's 6-2 win over Florida Wednesday night, the Sabres move ahead of the Penguins in the Eastern Conference standings, taking over the second spot. New Jersey was idle Wednesday.


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