Penguins play poorly in loss to Tampa Bay

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t recognize some of the Tampa Bay players. Worse still, the Penguins didn’t recognize their own game against an opponent they figured to beat.

Steven Stamkos scored his 46th goal to edge within one of NHL leader Sidney Crosby and the Lightning prevented Pittsburgh from gaining ground in the Eastern Conference race, beating the lethargic Penguins 2-0 on Wednesday night.

Crosby and the Penguins couldn’t find the net on a five-minute power play in the first period resulting from just-recalled defenseman Matt Lashoff’s boarding penalty and went on to lose their fourth in six games after winning their previous two.

“It was pretty bad. There’s no sugar coating it or trying to make something positive out of it, we didn’t do anything that was positive,” Crosby said. “We weren’t ready to play. We thought we were going to play a team that laid down and isn’t going to go to the playoffs, and we were just going to show up. Clearly, it didn’t happen.”

Clearly, coach Dan Bylsma wasn’t happy, either. He called an 8:30 a.m. practice for today, a previously scheduled day off.

The Penguins missed an opportunity to take a three-point lead in the Atlantic Division over idle New Jersey, losing to a team they had beaten in five of their previous six games. The Lightning had lost 14 of their previous 18 overall and were playing their second game in two nights after losing 3-2 in Columbus on Tuesday.

“With all due respect to them, there’s a handful of guys I haven’t even heard of,” Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik said. “They’ve got nothing to play for and they come in and outwork us in our building. It’s a little concerning.”

Lightning goalie Mike Smith allowed at least four goals in each of his previous five games in which he played more than a handful of minutes — and 22 overall in those five — only to shut out the Penguins on 27 shots. Smith hadn’t had a shutout since Dec. 5 against the Islanders.