Missing Sidney Crosby and Derick Brassard is one thing.
But missing two more centers?
Look, there was a lot to dislike, plus a little to actually like from the Penguins' latest loss, 4-3 to the Lightning, on this Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena. The penalty-killing was putrid, the power play was on point, the five-on-five play was improved if not inspired, the goaltending was ... eh, let's swing back to that later.
It wasn't bad. It might even have been mild progress within the muddied context of a team that's now lost seven of eight.
As Kris Letang worded it ...
Still, this stuck out most prominently for me: Whatever happened to Riley Sheahan and Matt Cullen?
You know, all that expected center depth.
Because I'll be damned if there wasn't a more striking sight through all 60 minutes of this than Derek Grant being sent over the boards, shift after shift in the third period with a one-goal deficit -- skating as if stuck in cryogenic molasses -- and this after being promoted in-game to the second line between Phil Kessel and Jake Guentzel.
That, my friends, is scary stuff. Not for this one outcome, but for what it might mean moving forward even when Crosby, Brassard and Evgeni Malkin are all available.
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