from Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

For one of the few times since he took over as Penguins coach, Mike Sullivan spoke and his players didn’t respond.

“We just have to be ready to refocus our energy and reinvest ourselves into this series,” Sullivan said of his preaching to his team before Game 1 Saturday night of the Eastern Conference final against the Ottawa Senators. “We can’t dwell on the past. We’ve got to turn the page … It always starts with an attitude and a mindset. We can’t ease into this. We’ve got to make sure that we’re ready to play from the drop of the puck.”

The Penguins were not ready, the result a hurtful 2-1 loss at PPG Paints Arena on Bobby Ryan’s goal at 4:59 of overtime. It is the first time they lost consecutive home playoff games during the Sullivan era. They were skunked by the Washington Capitals in Game 6 of the previous series.

This defeat wasn’t all that unpredictable – and not just because the Senators came in with a 5-1 overtime record in these playoffs. The Penguins were coming off their tense 2-0 win against the Capitals in Game 7 in Washington. It is hard to get right back up emotionally for the start of the next series despite the best of intentions.

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