Ready to count Penguins, Nedeljkovic out? What's the rush?

And just like that, seemingly with a singular swoop, the anvil came crashing down: Gone was the Penguins' 8-0-3 streak. Gone was controlling their own destiny. Gone was ... eh, I'm not going there yet. Especially not if it means having to go against that overgrown Wyoming farmboy in this photo:

Bottom line: Two games remain, Monday at home against the Predators, and Wednesday in Elmont, N.Y., against the Islanders. And sparing everyone the endless minutiae in all of these teams' various scenarios, the one cold truth facing the local club's that all four of the upcoming points had better be claimed.

"We've got a chance," Sidney Crosby would tell me after registering an assist, three shot attempts and a team-high four hits. "We can do it."

"Just gotta win the next one," Drew O'Connor would tell me after scoring maybe the goal of the year in our city. "I mean, we're still in it. We're right in it. I think most likely, it'll come down to the last game against the Islanders. We have to get the next one, and I think that last one will be big, too. Obviously, we would have liked to have this one. But we're in it until we're not in it."

I asked Erik Karlsson about this, as well:

"It is what it is," he'd reply after his 1,000th NHL game saw a minus-4 immediately following his overtime mega-goal two nights earlier, a synced-up symphony only he could orchestrate. "We can't do anything about the other teams around us. We've got two games left. We knew that we were going to have to at least win two and, luckily, we still have two games left. Hopefully, we can take care of those. It starts on Monday."

Of this performance in particular, one in which Boston led throughout and would improve to 47-18-15 for the NHL's second-best record, "This one stings a bit, but we didn't play bad by any means. We just didn't have that extra little kick that you need to beat a good team like the Bruins."

Honestly, that might have to suffice as the smartest explanation of all, as my own perspective from above was that this was basically a blameless outcome.

No, things didn't go great for Alex Nedeljkovic, whose 11th consecutive start saw him tagged for three goals on 16 shots and pulled in the middle of the second period after the third of those goals.  But, for one, singling him out for any amount of fault after all he's achieved in this stretch would be wholly out of whack with reality. And for another ... well, let's look at all three goals:

Know how much I love doing these breakdowns?

Yeah, forget this one. Nothing at all worth saying that wouldn't involve a string of vicious invectives. Quite literally, everyone on the rink shy of Marcus Pettersson -- who's too busy trying to bail everyone else out -- screws up. And that goes double for Karlsson straying way out to the right point, which throws everything off.

Hard pass. Next:

As Nedeljkovic would commendably acknowledge, "I can't leave that rebound out there," P.O Joseph has one job once he's planted in that spot, and it's to keep bodies and pucks out. Ideally, in that order, since the body's a much bigger and more predictable target. As it was, he faces Nedeljkovic -- which makes no sense -- then whirls around way too late to do anything about Pavel Zacha.

This last one, though, is all Nedeljkovic:

Yikes. Unscreened. Untipped. Un-slapped. Even Kevin Shattenkirk couldn't have thought that'd find twine.

"That can't get by me," Nedeljkovic would say. "Just can't."

Nope. That, of course, was when Mike Sullivan replaced him with Tristan Jarry, which I'm sure some will see as a sign that Nedeljkovic has worn out and that it'll be time for Jarry to retake the crease Monday.

Not the head coach, though. While he didn't come close to suggesting who might start against the Predators -- he never announces a goaltender before a game day, anyway -- he also made plain why he replaced Nedeljkovic when he did: "Look, Ned's given us some great hockey here. He's battling hard for us. The decision I made was based on just trying to change momentum for our group, to see if it could give us a jolt. It was more about that than anything."

I believe him. I also believe him when he says he didn't sense a fatigue issue with Nedeljkovic, just as I believed when Nedeljkovic himself would say on the subject, "No, no, I actually thought I felt fine today. I felt better than I did Thursday night."

Another thing I believe: Jarry would've been as rusty as he'd ever been entering an NHL game, and that's always fair to bring up. But he was handed yet another in an infinite line of opportunities to make a difference for this team, and he'd proceed to give up two goals on 14 shots. Almost as if to ensure his status around here stays forever muddled.

Sure, the first of his goals came on the eleventy billionth shorty the Penguins have conceded this season ...

... in which Jarry'd throw the puck aimlessly behind the net, but even so, Karlsson's got zero business not pursuing that with the man-advantage.

And the killer fifth Boston goal was a point-blank one-timer by Morgan Geekie ...

... where it might appear as if Reilly Smith's responsible -- and heaven knows I'm not one to defend Smith -- but it's really an error by Ryan Shea indefensibly following Jakub Lauko, author of the primary assist, behind the Pittsburgh net. If Shea goes where he should, there's no play.

Whatever. Nedeljkovic made more meaningful saves over the past month than Jarry's made in parts of eight seasons here and, for God's sake, that might not even qualify as hyperbole. 

It'd be insane entrust Jarry in a do-or-die. Clinically freaking insane.

I don't know how this'll end. None of us does. But I know that, just as Keisel, a for-real passionate follower of the Penguins, correctly pegged Rust as one of the competitors making all this happen, so, too, should all concerned be aligning behind the rest of the competitors in the fold.

Two games. Rest when they're over. Not now.

• Next up for me is a flight tonight to New York to cover all three games of the Pirates' series with the Mets, a trip I'd booked long before the Penguins identified their most competitive goaltender. 

• My Live Qs feature, which usually runs this morning, will instead be my Monday piece.

• Thanks for reading.