It seems we’ve seen this scenario play out before, haven’t we? Our Penguins take a lead, then score what appears to be a decisive goal to give them complete command. Then we promptly turn around and hand the game right back to our foe.
Indeed, last night’s soul-crushing (and playoff hope snuffing) 4-3 shootout loss to Columbus was a virtual carbon copy replay of our overtime loss to Colorado the previous Saturday night. Bookending our modest two-game winning streak.
To digress for a moment, in the 1981 hit movie Arthur, Dudley Moore’s wealthy, inebriated character famously warbled, “I wish I had a dime for every dime I have.”
Well, I wish our Pens had a point for every point they’ve given away. We’d likely be challenging for third place in the Metro instead of chasing the playoff-bound pack.
So many opportunities lost.
Unfortunately, such is the way of things for our 2023-24 Penguins.
For the second-straight game, Columbus hard-rock Mathieu Olivier notched the game-opening goal, this one of the short-handed variety at 7:47 of the opening frame.
The Pens drew even at 13:29 of the second, thanks in no small part to a heady bit of work by Lars Eller, who kept the play alive in the Blue Jackets’ zone during a line change.
