Flaccid Penguins Blow Lead in Finale, Bow to Blue Jackets in OT
Pathetic!
That was the single adjective I used in my game notes to describe our galling 3-2 come-from-in-front overtime loss to Columbus last night. My reaction to watching Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang lollygag off the ice on as lazy a line change as you’d ever want to see, in the process virtually ceding the entire Nationwide Arena ice surface to Johnny Gaudreau and his teammates.
Taking full advantage of our largesse, “Johnny Hockey” crept up the ice like a thief in the night, snagged a home run pass from Adam Boqvist and beat Tristan Jarry for the OT winner. Plunging the final dagger into perhaps the most disappointing season (and team) in Penguins history.
I realize our guys had nothing to play for and were probably suffering from a king-sized letdown (of their own making), but talk about going through the motions. SHEESH! You’d think pride alone would’ve spurred our guys to a greater effort. After all, they are professionals. But no…
Make no mistake, this is a bad hockey team. I wrote in a comment the other day that our problems are pathological and they are.