The Crunch pounced on the Penguins early, struck gold early in the second and the Penguins couldn't find an equalizer in third. That about sums it up tonight as the Pens get shutout on the road for the 5th time this season.
The real story here is the Penguins' troubles against East Division opponents. The Pens are just 1-6 in their last seven games against teams in their division and with four of the next five games coming up against divisional opponents, the time is now to overcome their troubles with these teams.
The lone bright spots for the Penguins tonight were Jeff Zatkoff, who stood on his head making 26 saves on the 27 shots he faced, and the third line of Adam Payerl, Warren Peters and Dominik Uher.
The trio established a solid forecheck all game and gave the Crunch fits in their own end. Payerl had a few nice chances around the net but credit to Crunch goaltender Cedric Desjardins for making the necessary stops and earning the 20 save shutout.
I noticed while waiting in the hallway that head coach John Hynes kept the players longer than usual after the game. Not sure what that means for tomorrow's practice plans but it should probably be a sign that the coaching staff wasn't satisfied.
The Penguins practice at Coal Street tomorrow and Friday before a home game against the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday.
ROSTER NOTES
Chad Kolarik and Steve MacIntyre did not make the trip to what the team's radio broadcaster said were "maintenance days". I'm sure Hynes said Kolarik was day-to-day.
Originally I thought Kolarik might be heading to Pittsburgh with the uncertainty surrounding forwards Evgeni Malkin and now Matt Cooke, but at least for now that appears to not be the case.
Jeff Zatkoff got the start in net tonight.
Healthy scratch: Cody Wild
Injured list: Tom Kuhnhackl, Phil Dupuis, Steve MacIntyre and Chad Kolarik
Lines:
Holzapfel-Smith-Thompson
Collins-Gibbons-Megna
Payerl-Peters-Uher
Farnham-Sill-Minella
Reese-Dumoulin
Mormina-Grant
Morrow-Samuelsson
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