PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered a gut punch of a loss to the Los Angeles Kings. On home ice, the day the team retires a franchise icon’s number and taking a lead late into the final frame, the Penguins took the kind of loss that could deflate an entire season.
While many fans of the Penguins will believe it’s just the beginning of the end, the players in the room are excited about what is still to come.
“Everybody was excited coming in today,” Erik Karlsson said. “We’re excited to move forward. We know what we have in here. We need to find that little spark.”
Matthew Phillips is a fresh face in the Penguins locker room after being a waiver claim from the Washington Capitals, but he could feel out the mood right away upon arrival.
“It’s very business-like,” Phillips said. “You can kind of sense that guys aren’t satisfied with how the season has gone. I think there is still a lot of positivity.”
Phillips is new to the team, but after a hectic weekend of celebration for Jaromir Jagr, things are back to business for the Penguins. They have three more home games coming up, and they could ultimately decide their season.
“Vibe’s good today,” Phillips said. “Tomorrow is a new game, and just kind of go from there.”
The Penguins are still confident they can climb from their spot in the standings into the postseason. With 30 games remaining, the Penguins hold a 24-21-7 record, seven points out of the second wild-card spot.
Despite their position, the Penguins are preaching the importance of the excitement Karlsson spoke of. Captain Sidney Crosby understands what it takes to win and knows that excitement can be a real confidence boost.
“You got to be excited to compete and go out there and play every night regardless of how the last game went,” Crosby said. “I think there were some good things, and you try and build off those… We got to get on a roll here.”
The Penguins have quite a challenge ahead of them, and they seem to be looking forward to it. Despite their position and lack of consistency, they remain excited about the season and confident they have what it takes to win.
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