One thing should be pretty clear after two head-to-head matchups with the San Jose Sharks this season — there is a pretty sizable gap between them and where the Penguins currently are. I feel like Thursday’s ugly loss was something that had been brewing for a while now because even though the Penguins had been collecting points and had won four of their previous five they weren’t really doing it in a very convincing way.
They were fortunate to escape the Philadelphia and Edmonton games with wins, they had to hold on for dear life against the Rangers, and outside of a dominant second period were not really that impressive against the Devils.