Penguins Lose Two Straight

NiThe Pittsburgh Penguins go down two straight.

After losing by a goal in the first game of the semi-finals because of bad coverage in the defensive end to the Washington Capitals, the Penguins looked to even the series.

It appears as though the Pens haven't learned their lesson.

Against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pens gave up a lot of bad goals because of their lack of coverage in their own end. Leaving net minder Marc Andre Fleury open to a barrage of quality scoring chances. Though coming up huge in many of those situations, it was just a matter of time before it caught up to them.

Being able to out score the Flyers was the only thing that got the Penguins into the second round.

Now they are facing the Washington Capitals who play a similar style.

In the first game, the Pens scored first, and the Capitals came back and won the game because the defensmen just weren't where they needed to be.

In the second game, again, the Penguins scored first but then allowed the Caps to come back and tie it. After scoring a second goal and again allowing the Capitals to tie the game, the Pens seemed to fall apart.

The defense was not there. Mark Eaton skated away from the net, leaving David Steckel wide open for a pass, which led to a goal.

Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang, both were taking their time moving the puck out of the zone, which led to turn overs and scoring chances.

Rob Scuderi was out of position during an odd man rush by the Capitals, and read the play wrong which led to a goal.

If the Pens want to get back to the finals, they have to play smart in their own end. They have been lazy, slow, and indecisive in the defensive zone the entire playoffs thus far.

Yes there have been a lot of questionable calls, but that is going to happen no matter what. And it happens to all of the teams.

The Penguins have nobody to blame but themselves for these two losses.