2015 NHL scores: Pressure mounts for winless Penguins, McDavid finally scores

Pittsburgh is still out of sync after an 0-3 start.

by Patrick Iversen

Oct 14, 2015, 1:00 PM UTC

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

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NHL Tuesday: Penguins remain winless after loss to Habs in home opener

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No team faced quite as much expectation at the start of the season as the new-look Pittsburgh Penguins. With the trade for Phil Kessel, the Penguins added another NHL star to an offensive attack that already featured generational talents like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The attack was supposed to be back-breaking, the defense and goaltending were supposed to improve and the Penguins were supposed to challenge for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Those things could still happen. It’s been one week and the Penguins have only played three games. But they haven’t won any of them, and it’s abundantly clear that none of those things have happened yet. It’s a little jarring.

Pittsburgh has scored just three goals in its first three games, matching their lowest total ever. While Kessel registered his first goal in Phoenix the other night, Crosby hadn’t recorded as much as a shot on goal until Tuesday. And even though its early, the Penguins admit they’ve already started to feel the pressure.

"We know we're better than this," goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "It seems like we've been getting better over the last three games, but still, we should have been ready to go from Game 1.

"It's going to be tough to make the playoffs. Every year, the race is always close. We need to get some points and get on the board here."

The good news for the Penguins is that their offense has awakened in fits and spurts over the last two games. Kessel scored. Crosby registered four shots against the Canadiens. The squad played a solid second period and scored two quick goals on Carey Price.

The Penguins will be better. It’s all but inevitable that they’ll get in sync and make a run at a division title. But doubt is a powerful thing, and time will tell whether the doubts that surfaced in their first three games will play a role in their season down the line.

Scores

Panthers 4, Hurricanes 1

Predators 3, Devils 1

Jets 4, Rangers 1

Canadiens 3, Penguins 2

Sharks 5, Capitals 0

Red Wings 3, Lightning 1

Stars 4, Oilers 2

Blues 4, Flames 3

Canucks 3, Kings 0

3 things we learned

1. The Metro division isn’t exactly what we expected -- yet

The Rangers. Pittsburgh. Washington. The Islanders. Columbus. Everyone anticipated a dogfight in the Metropolitan Division this year among each of those five strong teams. Early returns have been underwhelming: Just six wins from Metro teams so far, with a goal differential of minus-31. No one should expect this to continue at the current pace, but the struggle is quite real right now for the division's supposed heavy hitters.

2. The Oilers let Dallas wriggle off the hook

The numbers for Edmonton were bad. Real bad. As in, "52 shots against and 36 percent possession" bad. And yet they still had the Stars locked in a 2-2 tie with four minutes left in regulation. A few mistakes and a missed Nail Yakupov chance later, the Stars skated away with a 4-2 win. Things will get better for the Oilers, but it's hard to look at Anders Nilsson's 49 saves and not consider Tuesday night a wasted opportunity.

3. Kings fans are unimpressed with Milan Lucic

Lucic skates in on a breakaway the same way I envision a full sized bear falls down a hill while holding some fish.
— Jason Lewis (@SirJDL) October 14, 2015

Lucic breaking out of his own end pic.twitter.com/0Zh8GqeJ6T
— Phil P (@PartPhil) October 14, 2015

Impact Moment

It was obviously Connor McDavid’s first goal. With the monkey off his back, he can head back to Edmonton for his home debut with an ounce less pressure on him. Just an ounce. The tiniest ounce that ever ounced.