NHL Team Plagued By Angry Hockey Gods and More Bad Luck

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Stef
March 24, 2023 (9:15 PM)

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Have the Penguins angered the Hockey Gods, or has their time just passed? Barely a week after losing rising star defenseman Marcus Pettersson to injury, the Penguins found themselves facing a top Central Division team without their Number One Goaltender, and two of their top forwards listed as game-time-decisions.

While Jake Guentzel and Jason Zucker did end up playing, it was clear they were not 100%, as both had blocked shots, yesterday, and been injured.

With an emergency call up of Dustin Tokarski and Filip Hallander (who was sent back down after Guenztel and Zucker were cleared), Casey DeSmith was on his own until Tokarski arrived - which wasn't until late in the second period. This is what I'm saying about luck. Jarry gets hurt (again or still?), Tokarski's called up, but he missed his first flight, and the second was delayed. Mike Chiasson (the Penguins' EBUG) was in the Press Box, so it would have taken him a bit to get down to the ice and dressed, if needed.

The main issue with Jarry's injury is that no one saw anything happen - not since the Winter Classic, where we saw him physically go down in pain. These continued poor performances and missed games means it's an underlying cause which is extremely unfortunate for a young, talented goaltender, and his team.

So, while the Penguins eventually got their act together and started playing really well, outperforming the Stars nearly the entire game, the basic fact is that Dallas has one of the best goalies in the league. And the Penguins don't.

Even though Crosby is still doing Crosby things (finally scoring in Dallas - the last city he needed to complete his «goals in every arena» stat), Pittsburgh is in a precarious playoff position, and it doesn't seem like anything else can change, other than their luck. Here's hoping they do what they need to do to appease those Hockey Gods, or Pittsburgh is going to lose the one team the city has left to cheer for.