If you're a betting man or woman, I'd suggest you start betting on opposing teams any time the Penguins have to participate in a shootout.
The Florida Panthers kicked back late in the third period on Sunday and finished the job in the one-on-one's to defeat the Penguins 4-3 after a shootout. The extra point for the Penguins proved elusive, and such a loss might be the nail in the coffin for hope.
Penguins Shootout Woes
The Penguins are now 29-32-11 on the season. Of their 11 beyond-regulation losses, six of them have come in shootouts. They are 1-6 in shootouts this season, and none of them have been particularly close.
The Penguins have now squandered 6 points in shootout losses this season.
— Pens Labyrinth (@PensLabyrinthFS) March 24, 2025
Imagine where we would be if even half of those went the Penguins way this season.
Panthers win 4-3 S/O
Last night, the Penguins failed to score against Sergei Bobrovsky, and it only took one goal for Florida to win the game.
It's hardly been the fault of the Penguins' goalies in these shootouts, too. The Penguins shooters have displayed profound ineptitude at scoring unabated to the goaltender.
Pens have converted 2 of their last 14 shootout attempts.
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) March 24, 2025
There's your stat. That's the difference this season between the purgatory the Penguins find themselves in now and being right in the thick of the Wild Card race.
Nobody can score. Rakell can't score. Crosby can't score. Rust can't score. Malkin can't score. Not a soul can beat a goalie one-on-one, and it has to do with their approach.
Other teams come in with speed, make one or two stick handles, then pick their spot and beat the goalie up high. The Penguins bob and weave at a snail's pace, wait, wait, wait, wait a little more, then run out of room and get stuffed by the pads.
At some point, someone has to speak up and tell this team that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Converting 14% of shootout attempts is going to win you zilch in the National Hockey League.
As a team, the Penguins are on pace to be, collectively, the worst shootout performer in NHL history. Evander Kane has a 12% conversion rate in 25 career attempts, the worst among active players. The Penguins as a team are right there with him.
Again, this is all-time levels of ineptitude, and it's going to cost them their season.
Good teams don't get into the playoffs by points off of overtime/shootout losses. The Penguins are into double digits this season. The teams that manage to do so win 40 games. The Penguins are yet to crack 30 wins.
The byproduct of having an elderly team is lack of explosiveness in the extra period. The Penguins just don't have anyone who can gallop in and score the extra point, whereas other teams have a youth movement capable of doing so on multiple lines.
As far as the shootout goes, it's pretty pathetic that the team's leading goal scorer, the guy with two goals in the same game, and the greatest player in the 21st century can't even manufacture a single puck over the goal line in a given game.
It's like the power play of yesteryear. It has no business being so poor, yet it is, and it will cost the Penguins their season.