Penguins-Jets postgame

Friday, 25 January 2013 23:21

Written by Dave Molinari

Final score: Jets 4, Penguins 2.

Why it matters: The Penguins lost their second game in a row and have dropped to 2-2 on the season.

In a nutshell: The Penguins were unable to protect a two-goal lead – a theme that came up more than once last season – in part because they turned the puck over with alarming regularity during the second period, when the Jets scored three unanswered goals. Sidney Crosby had scored twice in the first 15 minutes to give the Penguins a 2-0 edge, but Evander Kane converted a Penguins giveaway 70 seconds into the middle period and by the time the second intermission arrived, Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd had scored to put Winnipeg in front to stay.

Turning point: Kane's goal gave the Jets momentum, but a series of stops Winnipeg goalie Ondrej Pavelec made on Evgeni Malkin and Tyler Kennedy at 6:52 prevented the Penguins from restoring their two-goal advantage and allowed Byfuglien to tie the game on power play less than seven minutes later.

Under the radar: Sidney Crosby wasn't deemed worthy of a star, so perhaps he qualifies. Hard to believe, though, that a guy who scored both of his team's goals, had a team-high four hits and won eight of 14 faceoffs wasn't worthy of some sort of recognition, though.

The brightest star: Four Jets – Byfuglien, Kane, Ladd and Blake Wheeler – finished with a goal and an assist, and any could have been singled out as the top star. Pavelec's contribution shouldn't be overlooked, though, because while he did not look good on Crosby's first goal, the stops he made on Malkin and Kennedy in the second were critical to Winnipeg's victory.

The last word: Crosby, on how the Penguins allowed the game to get away from them during the second period: "We obviously turned some pucks over and made some mistakes. Some big mistakes on our part."