‘It’s Frustrating’: Penguins Blow Another Lead, Drop Heartbreaker To

They say it is certifiably insane to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different outcome.

And, unfortunately, for the Pittsburgh Penguins, that territory is being breached when it comes to blown leads.

The Penguins took a commanding 2-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday and dictated the first 40 minutes of play before surrendering two goals in the third period and, eventually, dropping the contest in overtime, 3-2. Brayden Point scored twice for Tampa Bay – including the overtime winner – in his return to the lineup after a lower-body injury, and Anthony Cirelli notched the tying goal at 12:49 of the third period.

It’s the eighth time in 21 games that the Penguins have blown a multi-goal lead.

“I don’t know,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “It just feels like the same crap all over again. It’s frustrating.”

That’s probably an understatement by Pettersson. The sentiment was pretty much the same around the rest of the locker room, and it was easy to tell that mass frustration is seeping in.

“We talk about how we’ve got to stay positive on the bench and try to keep playing the same way that we have been, no matter what happens,” forward Rickard Rakell – who scored the game’s second goal on the power play for Pittsburgh – said after the game. “But, for some reason, it seems like we’re gripping our sticks a little bit too tight, and we give them too many good looks.”

Here are some thoughts and observations following Tuesday’s demoralizing loss:

– Granted, this is my first year on the Penguins beat. I have seen head coach Mike Sullivan angry-ish before, and I have seen him give short press conferences in the post-game following a loss.

This one takes the cake.

I can confidently say I have never seen Sullivan so angry and disgusted with his team. His presser was just one minute long. He was in and out of there as fast as humanly possible.

When asked why blowing leads has become a pattern, this is what he had to say firmly and angrily:

“Because we…