For Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Muse, it wasn\u2019t so much what the Penguins did to snap their four-game losing streak.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s what they didn\u2019t do.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want to be giving easy offense to the opponent,\u201d Muse said. \u201cI thought we did a good job controlling things that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
During their recent 0-4 Western Conference road trip \u2014 where all four opponents scored at least five goals \u2014 that wasn\u2019t the case. Giveaways that led to opposing offense were the norm.<\/p>\n
On Thursday night, though, the Penguins avoided such missteps en route to a 4-0 shutout over the Florida Panthers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played structurally better,\u201d goalie Arturs Silovs said. \u201cDefensively, we were more locked in. When we are defending the house, it makes my job much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
In all, this may have been the Penguins\u2019 best game since Opening Night\u2019s 7-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The similarities were abundant.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Silovs pitched a shutout.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Nick Robertson scored twice.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Hendrix Lapierre had a multi-point evening.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Evgeni Malkin registered a goal.<\/p>\n
All those things happened in Philadelphia. Very few of them have happened since. But they were all present on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had contributions throughout the lineup,\u201d Muse said. \u201cArtie was great (26 saves). We\u2019ve talked about consistency. That (game) was right up there for the most consistent game of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
We could split hairs over what stretch of those 60 minutes was the most important. Was it how the Penguins played with the lead for the first 45 minutes? Or was it how they built it in the first 15?<\/p>\n
The Penguins outshot the Panthers 8-4 early on, leading to Robertson\u2019s goal to break a scoreless tie before the first intermission.<\/p>\n
What a sweet curl and drag from Nick Robertson ????\u200d????<\/p>\n
(????: SportsNet Pittsburgh) https:\/\/t.co\/wMyNPb1W8Q<\/p>\n