“Not acceptable”: Sidney Crosby voices frustration after Penguins’ crushing 6-1 loss to Lightning

The Pittsburgh Penguins had a night to forget as they fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 6-1 rout on Tuesday. With the loss, the Penguins' playoff hopes took another hit, leaving them six points behind the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with just nine games remaining.

Tampa Bay wasted no time seizing control of the game, storming out to a 4-0 lead in the first period. The Penguins struggled to contain the Lightning's high-powered offense, leading to an early exit for starting goaltender Tristan Jarry, who was pulled after allowing four goals on just seven shots. Backup Alex Nedeljkovic stepped in, making 18 saves, but the damage was already done.
Anthony Cirelli led the charge for the Lightning with two goals, while Ryan McDonagh, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Brandon Hagel each found the back of the net. Andrei Vasilevskiy had a relatively easy night in goal, stopping 14 shots as Tampa Bay cruised to victory.
The Penguins’ lone bright spot came from Bryan Rust, who scored in the third period off an assist from Sidney Crosby. However, by then, the outcome had long been decided.

After the game, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby did not hold back his frustration, citing the team’s poor morning skate as an early sign of trouble.
"We weren't good enough in the morning skate," Crosby said via NHL.com. "I think that's why you saw the reaction you did from him [HC Mike Sullivan]. For good reason. You want to prepare the right way. We didn't have a great practice this morning, and the game went like this. It's not acceptable."
Crosby also pointed to defensive breakdowns as a key issue, especially in the opening period. "We gave up some early ones that gave them momentum, it's tough to climb back from that deficit," he added. "Just quick hits, a couple of rush plays. It didn't feel like they were carrying the play with zone time or putting us back on our heels. We weren't tight off the rush and they made us pay."
Head coach Mike Sullivan was visibly upset with his team during the morning skate, repeatedly demanding more focus from his players. However, after the game, he admitted that while the result was ugly, the first-period performance itself wasn’t as disastrous as the scoreboard suggested.

"My experience being around this game is that it’s very difficult to read into a morning skate. Having said that, obviously we weren’t pleased with the focus or the execution," Sullivan said.
Despite the lopsided loss, Sullivan didn’t believe his team was completely outplayed but acknowledged that the early goals made it an uphill battle. "Most of the first, I didn’t think was all that bad. It just seemed like every chance went in the net. One of those nights," he added.
With the loss, Pittsburgh remains six points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot. With only nine games left in the regular season, their margin for error is razor-thin.
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The Penguins will have a chance to regroup when they face the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday at KeyBank Center. They will need a much sharper performance if they hope to keep their playoff hopes alive.