The Pittsburgh Penguins (29-34-11) finished their three-game road trip with a disastrous performance at KeyBank Center. They fell to the Buffalo Sabres 7-3 on a historic night, as Sidney Crosby broke Wayne Gretzky's point-per-game record.
In a recurring theme, Tristan Jarry gave up a goal on the first shot of the game, and the Penguins were never able to recover as the younger Sabres kept lighting the lamp in hopes of climbing out of the Eastern Conference basement.
Thankfully, Pittsburgh has a few days off before their game, providing plenty of time to unpack this performance.
Crosby Steals the Headlines
Unfortunately, the Penguins were chasing the game less than a minute after the opening puck drop; captain Sidney Crosby scored at 11:11 of the first period to collect his 80th point of the season.
BREAKING: Sidney Crosby Breaks Wayne Gretzky's Point-Per-Game Seasons RecordAfter 20 years in the making, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has made NHL history.
The milestone goal cut the deficit to 2-1 for the home team, as Bryan Rust grabbed the puck out of the net to celebrate Crosby's historic achievement of earning his 20th point-per-game campaign.
Even though only four Buffalo skaters failed to get on the scoresheet, and seven had two-point games, Crosby stole all the headlines by etching his name into the NHL record book.
The End of Tristan Jarry
Jarry rediscovered his game in the AHL for over a month, coming back to Pittsburgh to go on a four-game win streak. However, when he finally lost, it was like he had lost all his confidence again and had yet to find it.
For the second consecutive game, Mike Sullivan started Jarry, and for the second game in a row, he had to pull him as he gave up four goals on 12 shots to finish the night with a .667 SV%.
Originally drafted by the Penguins in 2013, the end of his tenure in Pittsburgh is here. The Penguins must move on from a goalie who just can't make a save, let alone one on the first shot of the game.
Thursday night was Jarry's third shortest start of the season and his third-worst SV% game, which is not statistics worthy of being an NHL netminder.
Penguins Different Team Without Malkin
Evgeni Malkin missed his second consecutive game, and the Penguins gave up at least six goals in each. As the team's second-line center, Malkin leads another layer of attack that isn't there when he's not.
Despite Dud Against Buffalo, Crosby The Star Of The ShowThere wasn't a whole lot to write home about in the Pittsburgh Penguins' brutal 7-3 road loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
Even though most of the team's scoring has come from Crosby, Rust, and Rickard Rakell, Malkin is the Penguins' fifth-leading scorer and a future Hall of Famer that opponents tend to game plan for.
Without him in the lineup, the secondary scoring dries up, and the bottom six players are shuffled to compensate for the second-line opening, changing the offense's dynamics.
Despite the fanbase wondering what the team would look like without the 38-year-old in the lineup, the answer currently appears to be a mess. However, the Penguins can overcome his absence with some retooling and restructuring.