Sidney Crosby was happy Tuesday morning.
And it was simply because he was able to be around his teammates for a morning skate.
He had been denied what is seemingly a mundane facet of life as a professional hockey player for the better part of two weeks after he tested positive for covid-19 earlier this month and was placed into NHL-mandated isolation for 10 days.
“It wasn’t fun,” the Penguins captain said. “I don’t think it’s ever fun for anybody ever having to do that. With the timing (after recovering from offseason wrist surgery), being excited to kind of get back and start back up then get a positive test, it was tough. But you move by it, and I’m excited to be back.”
Crosby’s mood was presumably different by Tuesday night. While he did record his first point of the season — a secondary assist on a power-play opportunity — the Penguins were stymied by the unremarkable Buffalo Sabres, 2-1, at PPG Paints Arena. It was the Penguins’ third consecutive loss and their eighth defeat in their past 10 games.
With Thanksgiving around the corner, the Penguins are in seventh place of the eight-team Metropolitan Division with a 5-6-4 record and 14 points. Only the New York Islanders, who have played two fewer games and no home contests yet this season — construction of their new home, UBS Arena, has just been completed — are below them with 12 points.
“I’ll say that none of the guys in the room are saying that, ‘It’s only November,’ ” forward Jason Zucker said. “There’s not one guy that thinks that. We’re a team that wants to win, and we’re a team that takes these games in October, November, December as serious as March and down the line. We want to win these games as bad as any. For us, this isn’t acceptable. But I think tonight was a step in the right direction.”
Crosby appeared to take a step forward by simply getting a point. In addition to his bout with covid-19, Crosby missed the first seven games of the regular season as he recovered from offseason surgery to his left wrist. Those maladies have limited him to three games this season.
“Physically, I feel really good,” Crosby said. “I just want to get in games here and get some timing and get (back to) feeling normal.
“Personally, I think I need to get my game to a certain level and, hopefully, I can do that here pretty quick.”
Seemingly no one on the ice for the Penguins or Sabres did anything in a fleet fashion Tuesday as there was no offense (nor any legitimate threat of it) in the first period. That prompted Penguins coaches to switch up their lines a bit, namely moving Crosby to a line with wingers Danton Heinen and Dominik Simon at the opening of the second.
That alteration saw almost immediate production 28 seconds into the middle period, albeit by the Sabres. With Crosby and company chasing, Sabres forward Drake Caggiula swooped from the left wing of the offensive zone behind the net. Emerging near the right corner, Caggiula banked a pass off the near boards to the right point. From there, Sabres defenseman Colin Miller clapped a one-timer that beat goaltender Tristan Jarry’s blocker on the far side for his second goal this season.
Sabres forward Vinnie Hinostroza and Heinen appeared to screen Jarry on the sequence.
It became a 2-0 game at 8:54 of the second. Controlling a loose puck behind the Penguins net, Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons created some space by maneuvering to the left circle and flicked a pass to the top of the crease. Linemate Kyle Okposo surged down the slot and jabbed the puck past Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel’s left skate and Jarry’s five hole for his fourth goal.
A would-be wraparound forehand goal by Jeff Carter at 16:31 of the second period was reviewed by officials, who determined the puck did not cross the goal line.
The Penguins finally broke through 5:59 into the third with a rare power-play score. From the left half wall of the offensive zone, Crosby fed a seam pass to the right circle for forward Bryan Rust, who one-touched the puck to the left of the crease. The puck hit off forward Jake Guentzel’s right skate and deflected past former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender Dustin Tokarski’s right leg.
It was Guentzel’s fifth goal this season and broke an eight-game skid without a power-play score for the team.
Jarry made 17 saves on 19 shots as his record fell to 5-4-3. Tokarski was stout as he stopped 45 of 46 shots.
Compared to their two previous games — dreadful road losses to the Ottawa Senators (6-3) Saturday and the Washington Capitals (6-1) on Sunday — Tuesday’s effort could reasonably be viewed as progress in some fashion.
But a loss is a loss, no matter the stripes (or portion of the calendar).
“We’re well aware that it’s not enough,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “Obviously, we’d like to come out with a win. But sometimes, over the course of an 82-game schedule, you play a game like this and you end up on the wrong side. But if we continue to play this way, I’m confident that we’re going to win games.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Seth by email at srorabaugh@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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