Penguins coach Mike Sullivan calls out some players after loss to Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Pittsburgh Penguins haven't won a game in Raleigh since 2018, which, incidentally, is the last time they won a playoff series.

Those respective streaks might be staying intact for a while longer.

The Penguins were thoroughly dominated by their Metropolitan Division rivals for the second time this season, this time sustaining a 5-1 setback at Lenovo Center on Thursday.

This drops the Penguins' record to 5-8-2 and, while the season is still quite young, the trajectory is obviously a troubling one for Mike Sullivan's team.

Sullivan was furious with the work ethic of some of his players following the contest.

"I thought we had a lot of guys who played really hard and didn't get rewarded for their efforts," Sullivan said. "I think there were a few guys that didn't live up to the expectations. It's hard. We need everybody to bring it every night to have a chance to win."

Sullivan was asked to confirm that he believed some of his players didn't play hard.

"I thought a lot of the group tonight played extremely hard," he responded.

Sullivan didn't mention anyone by name, but he didn't have to.

Erik Karlsson was almost solely responsible for the first two goals against and endured a nightmarish first period, even by his lower-than-usual standards this season.

Sullivan referenced that goal.

"I mean, the first goal, we talk about playing behind them, making hard plays, and we make a soft play," Sullivan said. "We don't play him. It ends up in the back of our net."

Karlsson was the player on the wrong side of the puck when Jordan Martinook scored just 52 seconds into the first period.

It got no better for Karlsson as his decision-making and effort level became even more suspect on Carolina 's second goal.

Karlsson was asked to assess his performance following the game.

"Not bad," he said. "Unfortunate sometimes. It's tough sometimes when your first shift, they score on the first play, and it starts snowballing the other way. It's just one of those days where you got to keep your head down and try and be in the right position at all times. And even if you're just a little off, sometimes it doesn't go your way. And that's just one of those nights. I've had many of them, and I'm sure I've had some more. I just have got to figure out a way to control them."

Karlsson committed a couple of more gaffes later in the first period, giving Carolina a couple more opportunities during a period that saw the Hurricanes register only four shots on goal.

While Karlsson wasn't benched at any point during five-on-five play, he was replaced by Michael Bunting on the top power play for the remainder of the game.

Jack Roslovic and Jaccob Slavin scored in the second period to put the game out of reach.

"We did some good things but we paid for every mistake we made tonight," Lars Eller said. "We played hard, but I think finally at 4-0, that took something out of us."

Ten postgame observations

• I've covered Sullivan for all of his nine years in Pittsburgh and I've seen him angry following games. It happens. And it was inevitable.

However, I've never heard him question the effort of individual players in the manner in which he did after this game.

Sullivan didn't use any names, and I'm not going to put words in his mouth. But any reasonable amount of logic makes it exceedingly clear that the head coach's frustration level with Karlsson is growing. How can it not be?

• I don't know what else can be said about Karlsson.

He's actually been better over the past couple of weeks, since the Penguins returned from western Canada. But then this game happened.

His first period was extraordinarily bad. Getting benched on the power play in favor of the struggling Bunting is really something

Karlsson has to start playing better than this. Beating him to the outside for left-wingers has become far, far too easy. His mental gaffes are every bit as concerning and frequent.

• The Penguins absolutely carried plays in the first period yet found themselves down 2-0 by the time the first 20 minutes. This was obviously a pretty demoralizing thing, given that they were playing in a building where they historically struggle and against one of the NHL 's best teams. When you are that convincing in the first period, you simply can't find yourself down 2-0, not against a team as good as the Hurricanes.

• The Penguins have been a very poor finishing team for the past couple of years. We're seeing it again this season. They need to generate a significant amount of opportunities to score.

This isn't a common theme in Penguins' history, but it's the way things are right now.

• It was much of the same from Alex Nedeljkovic .

Should he have been better? Sure.

Were any of the goals especially bad or "his fault?" Nah.

Same old story.

"The difference in the game was that their guy ( Pyotr Kochetkov , who stopped 36 of 37 shots) was better than me," Nedeljkovic said.

He was better than Nedeljkovic. But that wasn't the difference in the game.

• The Penguins have scored two five-on-five goals in the past seven games without either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin on the ice. Blake Lizotte accounted for one of those on Thursday.

Yes, the Penguins' top line has been very good. In fact, it was effective against the Hurricanes. But I can't stress enough that Crosby and Malkin staying together might not be possible for much longer because the rest of the forward unit is so anemic with those two not spread out on different lines.

• Bryan Rust is on the trip and skating, but still wasn't cleared to play on Thursday. He was joined in the press box by Kevin Hayes , who was injured late on Tuesday against the Islanders .

Rust appears very close to returning to the lineup, though I don't know if he will play in Washington on Friday.

• The Hurricanes are impressive. Are they a Stanley Cup contender? They sure look the part at the moment. They don't blow you away with star power, but they do everything at a high level and utterly outclassed the Penguins twice this season.

• The Penguins will take on the Capitals in less than 24 hours in our nation's capital. Washington has been quite a story this season and the Capitals will be more rested than the Penguins, who figure to go with rookie goaltender Joel Blomqvist between the pipes.

While the Penguins typically play in Washington, this one is stacking up as a very difficult test.

• So, technically, this was a pregame observation. But let's end on a nice note.

I had a long chat with Jordan Staal before the game and wanted to share some things he told me. Watching Marc-Andre Fleury 's last game in Pittsburgh clearly hit Staal emotionally.

"We all kind of came up together," Staal said. "And we're all feeling a little older these days. But my mind goes back to those days quite a bit. Especially when I saw Flower there."

Staal was drafted in 2006, became an instant sensation in his rookie season, and was an indestructible, two-way force during the Penguins' 2009 Stanley Cup run. After six seasons with the Penguins, Staal turned down a 10-year contract offer from Ray Shero, instead preferring to play with his brother, Eric, in Raleigh.

More than 12 years have passed since that trade.

"I struggled with that decision so much," Staal said. "On one hand, I knew I'd be part of a really good team for a really long time if I stayed in Pittsburgh. And watching them win (in 2016 and 2017) hurt. But I also had an opportunity to play with my brother, to be there for his kids' birthdays, stuff like that. And to just play with him in the NHL. It was a very, very hard decision. But no regrets. This is my home now. Pittsburgh will always have a lot of fond memories for me, though."

Staal smiles when talking about Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang still being in Pittsburgh. We call them the Big 3.

Once upon a time, they were the Big 4.

"That was the group that got the ball rolling in Pittsburgh for a long time," Staal said. "The memories are getting a little cloudy now, but it was an era. There was so much hype and excitement back then in Pittsburgh, because we were so good and so young. I think about it all the time. It was a fun time in my life and it was special to be a small part of that team."

(Photo: James Guillory / Imagn Images)