Penguins Swept Away by Hurricanes, 5-1

Since returning to action following the Olympic break with a 4-1 win over the Devils on February 26, our Penguins have played a staggering 14 games in 25 days. Including yesterday’s matinee matchup with the Metro-leading Hurricanes, they’ve gone 6-4-4 in those games. Including 5-3-3 sans captain Sidney Crosby and 2-1-2 minus Evgeni Malkin.

Respectable enough, given the circumstances.

Yesterday the weight of playing such a demanding schedule, to say nothing of a second of afternoon back-to-back contests, seemed to catch up to them. Our guys were methodically dismantled, 5-1, by the ‘Canes, who grabbed the lead 47 seconds in on a power-play goal by Sebastian Aho and never looked back. Followed by a three-goal second period outburst.

There would be no dramatic comebacks for the fatigued Pens on this day.

Egor Chinakhov saved what little face he could for the locals, snapping a sharp, diagonal feed from Bryan Rust past Frederik Andersen at 14:56 of the third period to avert a shutout. But it was far too little, too late.

Former Pen Mark Jankowski applied the finishing touch with an empty-netter at 18:56.

Continue reading Penguins Swept Away by Hurricanes, 5-1 at Pittsburgh Penguins - PenguinPoop Blog.