The Penguins were dealt a tough blow before the game even started, as Ryan Shea was ruled out with an upper-body injury sustained in the second period of the game against the Jets. He is listed as day-to-day.
“He’s been incredible for us,” Muse said of the defenseman. “His game’s continuing to grow. The puck movement, defensive play, penalty killing – he’s been obviously a huge part of it.”
Ryan Graves, who slotted into the lineup, ended up taking a penalty on the first shift. The Hurricanes converted right away, with Sebastian Aho’s shot deflecting in off of Connor Dewar’s stick past Stuart Skinner. Carolina ended up outshooting Pittsburgh 7-0 to start the frame.
“It’s a tough way to start the game. But even there, like, that happens, what do we do next?” Muse said. “I feel like with our group, we’ve responded to more of those moments, and more moments than not this year. Today, we didn’t. We just kind of let it continue to build in the wrong way.”
The Penguins did start to generate a little bit later in the period, and shots ended up being just 9-5 in favor of Carolina. And they managed to keep the deficit at just one after 20 minutes.
But Carolina took over in the second period, finding two more power-play goals to go 3-for-3 to start the game. The Penguins entered the game with the NHL’s No. 1 penalty-kill unit, but struggled today.
“Yeah, not our best. We need to be better for Stu,” Noel Acciari said. “First one, unlucky bounce, went off Dewey’s stick. But overall, can’t give up three goals on the penalty kill. We’re better than that. We’re going to shake that one off. Kind of forget about it.”