The Penguins trip to western Canada began with a loss to the Winnipeg Jets 6-3. It is their fourth loss of the season and it is also the fourth loss in which the opponent was a playoff team from last year. So far the Penguins have shown they cannot compete with competent NHL teams.

The Penguins have been outscored 20-6 in these contests and don’t appear to be structured enough defensively to properly keep up. Today against Winnipeg any time the Jets were in the zone it felt like there could be a goal on the way. For a while it was Alex Nedeljkovic keeping things from getting out of hand. He was very sharp early on in the game in his first start since last season. This game would have gotten ugly for the Penguins if they didn’t get solid play from their goalie.

Earlier in the day Mike Sullivan was playing coy with who the Penguins were going to be starting in goal. Not only did he select the freshly recalled Nedeljkovic, but backing him up was Joel Blomqvist. Tristan Jarry was a healthy scratch. Tough to blame the coach for scratching Jarry. He hasn’t been good and the other options give the team a better chance of winning. Nothing from Nedeljkovic or Blomqvist has pointed to them not being able to perform better than Jarry. For now, there’s nothing to be done about Jarry. If you don’t think he is going to do a good job you don’t play him. Big picture I can’t imagine scratching Jarry is going to have a tangible impact on his trade value, he doesn’t have any. If it were up to me he wouldn’t see any action on this road trip.

The Jets were wearing their third jersey today. It shouldn’t be their third jersey. It should be their primary. I think it’s a way better look.

Sidney Crosby was held pointless. This has been the case in four out of the six games so far this season. I’m not in any kind of panic mode with the captain. It’s a long season. I don’t think he’s looked his normal self yet through six games. He certainly isn’t getting any help with his linemates. Bryan Rust is slow out of the gate which is likely injury related and Anthony Beauvillier isn’t an acceptable option to ride shotgun with Sid. Drew O’Connor has turned into a decent depth player. He shouldn’t be a long term answer for the top six, either. Jake Guentzel isn’t going to be walking through the door, but it would have been nice to have someone in his place that can at least pretend to look the part of a top six winger. This is a situation that isn’t likely to be resolved as the Penguins won’t be looking to be buyers.

Lars Eller is up to four goals on the season. He's had a really strong start to the season. He's doing a great job of upping his value on the trade market.

Up next for the Penguins will be the Flames on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading!

Join the Discussion: » 63 Comments » Post New Comment

» Dubas deals for former first round pick

» Sidney Crosby's 600th provides a sliver of light in a season of darkness

» Jets might be gettable

» They are who they are

» Jake is back