It was just a matter of time.
Defensive lapses up the wazoo and a poor performance from MAF, including giving up the soft game-winning goal with 23 seconds to go, were enough to spell defeat for the first time in over a month today for the Pens.
Ironically, in my view anyway, today was the first game since the Pens defeated Nashville in which I thought they were very responsible with the puck and did not make many poor passes at all.
But defensively, the Pens played one of their worst games in quite a while. Both goals which got the Islanders back in the game within 15 seconds were caused by poor defensive coverage.
And MAF arguably gave up 2 or 3 soft goals today.
But let's face facts, and I've been saying it game by game for quite a while now, they've been winning games and getting points in 16 straight games, which of course for Pens fans has been fantastic, but their lack of intensity, their poor defensive play, and their mediocre goaltending lately have made them skating on thin ice for wins (no pun intended).
It simply caught up with them today.
And now the Pens must go to Florida on Thursday for a quick 2 game road trip, Florida being a place that has never historically been kind to the Pens.
So the Pens must forget about this game. They must realize that this day was going to come quicker rather than later, based on their play as of late, and work on their lapses.
Let's also not forget, the GM's are meeting now until Wednesday in Florida. While most of the "meetings" will be discussing various league issues, you can bet your ass that their will be trade talks galore as well.
Don't be surprised if the Pens have a new teammate or two by Thursday's game in Sunrise.
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