Penguins' penalty kill struggles in loss to Hurricanes

Letting up a pair of power-play goals Friday doesn’t mean that the Pittsburgh Penguins’ penalty kill should be degraded to liability status.

After all, at puck drop against the Carolina Hurricanes, it ranked 10th in the NHL, having killed off 11 of 13 opposing man-advantages for a healthy 84.6% rate through five games played.

However, in the Penguins’ 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes, their penalty kill was not a source of strength.

For veteran winger Lars Eller, a player not afraid to hold teammates accountable, the Penguins’ penalty-killing woes were merely a symptom of much more significant issues Friday, mentally and on the ice.

“I just think it starts on 5-on-5,” Eller said. “There’s so many things that need to be better. The attitude, the energy, the execution, if those things are better, then we’re probably not playing as much short-handed. We put ourselves in bad spots all the time. I hope we won’t see another game like this.”

Pittsburgh committed three minor penalties during the game, with Michael Bunting taking a four-minute double-major, all in the second period.

Martin Necas scored the Hurricanes’ first power-play goal of the night, handing Carolina a 2-1 lead at 6:52.

Awaiting the puck patiently in the left faceoff circle, Necas received an off-center pass via Seth Jarvis from the slot, went backhand to forehand and fired a slap shot over Joel Blomqvist’s left shoulder.

Drew O’Connor, who was defending near Necas but drifted into the slot when Jarvis got the puck, was unable to get back in time to make any play on the shot, while defenseman Kris Letang narrowly missed blocking it.

“(The Hurricanes) move the puck really well,” Letang said. “Obviously, the first one hit my pants and went up in the corner of the net. I think they just used the middle guy a lot. It kind of made us spread apart. They were opportunistic on their chances.”

Later in the period, with just under four minutes remaining, Bunting got tangled up near the Hurricanes bench with Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov, whacking him in the face with his stick.

Bunting’s ensuing double-minor meant that the Penguins would likely close out the period short-handed.

After the Penguins killed off roughly a minute of Bunting’s penalty, Carolina moved up ice and gained the offensive zone.

Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, the club’s final player to cross the blue line off the rush, took a pass from Svechnikov and ripped a slap shot toward the cage from 51 feet.

The puck deflected off Noel Acciari and found the back of the net, putting the Hurricanes in front, 3-1.

Asked to assess the penalty kill afterward, coach Mike Sullivan was brief.

“The same as our 5-on-5,” he answered.

On top of Carolina’s power-play success, the Penguins struggled to get much going after O’Connor scored the game’s first goal in the opening period.

They managed only four shots on goal in the first period and seven in the second, with limited offensive zone time.

“We dug ourselves a deep hole, and (it was) too much to get out of,” Eller said.