NHL: Dallas Stars at Pittsburgh Penguins - Source: Imagn — Nightmare first period, goaltending meltdown and more: 3 reasons why Pittsburgh Penguins lost 7-1 to Dallas Stars (Image Source: IMAGN)

Nightmare first period, goaltending meltdown and more: 3 reasons why Pittsburgh Penguins lost 7-1 to Dallas Stars

Modified Nov 12, 2024 03:16 GMT

The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered a disastrous defeat on Monday night, losing 7-1 to the Dallas Stars. The lopsided game was practically over after the first period, as the Stars led 6-0.

While the Penguins broke the shutout, there wasn’t much the club could do to get back into the game.

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Mason Marchment led the way with five points (1G, 4A), Miro Heiskanen had two goals and Matt Duchene chipped in three points (1G, 2A). Meanwhile, Logan Stankoven, Tyler Seguin and Wyatt Johnston had the others for the Stars. Anthony Beauvillier got Pittsburgh on the board with his fourth of the season in the second period.

Here's a closer look at three reasons why Pittsburgh dropped a lopsided game against Dallas.

3 reasons why Pittsburgh Penguins lost a blowout against Dallas Stars

#3. Nightmare first period

The Penguins came out flat-footed, unable to keep up with the Stars. Dallas was already up 3-0 by the 10-minute mark due to poor judgment on Pittsburgh’s part. Stankoven’s goal was a good example as the Penguins were caught puck-watching throughout the sequence.

The play started with the puck coming around the boards. Stankoven picked up the puck, skated to the faceoff circle to the left of Pens’ netminder Joel Blomqvist, and had all the time and space he needed to let a wrist fly past Blomqvist.

Meanwhile, Bryan Rust did virtually nothing to interfere with Stankoven while Erik Karlsson stood there hoping the puck would hit him instead of the net. Stankoven didn’t miss and the Stars went up 2-0 at that point.

#2. Terrible penalty killing

The Stars went 2-for-4 on the power play. The club got goals and power play tallies from Seguin and Johnston in the first and third periods, respectively.

The goals put the Penguins' penalty kill on notice, showing how ineffective it was on Monday night. It’s also worth pointing out that the Pens’ power play went 0-for-2 on the night.

#1. Goaltending meltdown

Pens’ starter Joel Blomqvist was chased after giving up three goals on eight shots in the first. He was pulled in favor of Alex Nedeljkovic who proceeded to give up three more in the first. To be fair, Nedeljkovic made 28 saves, giving up just the one power play goal in the third period following the six-goal nightmarish first period.

The Pens’ goaltending situation has now gone from troublesome to outright alarming as Monday night’s performance proved.

The Penguins will look to bounce back when they hit the ice again on Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena.