from Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,
The final chapters still need to be written, of course, but Wednesday night, for the Penguins, the genre shifted from fairy tale to horror story.
Marc-Andre Fleury gave up four goals and was pulled before the game was 13 minutes old, the team's defensive structure crumbled to pieces and the Ottawa Senators cruised to a 5-1 victory in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final.
The Senators lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Friday night in Ottawa.
"We should be a little bit embarrassed, the way we came out and the way we started this game," winger Chris Kunitz said. "We need to come in with more urgency and more jump every single time we step on the ice. Nothing's going to be handed to you or given to you. Nothing's going to be easy."...
Immediately following the game, coach Mike Sullivan said he hadn't yet considered who he would start in Game 4.
With Kris Letang done for the season and Justin Schultz now out with an upper-body injury, the Penguins came into Wednesday's game without their top two puck-moving defensemen. The remaining defense corps had its roughest night of the postseason.
"We've dealt with it all year long. Are we worried about it? Not really. We don't have a choice," Sullivan said of his personnel situation on defense. "That's just the reality of the circumstance, and it's nothing this team isn't accustomed to. We've been dealing with this all year long. Kris Letang played 40 games for us this year. We had to find ways to win without Tanger for half the season."
Game highlights are below...
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