PITTSBURGH — Suddenly, history isn’t so sweet for the Devils.
On today’s second anniversary of Lou Lamoriello’s firing of Claude Julien with three games left in the season, coach Brent Sutter’s team has collapsed into as long a losing streak as it has endured in Lamoriello’s 22-year reign.
The diatribes of the previous days didn’t have the desired effect, as much as they all desired it. The Devils fell behind by two before the game was seven minutes old, Martin Brodeur gave up three goals on five shots and the red-faced Devils were routed 6-1 by the torrid Penguins here last night.
“I don’t think any of us expected this to happen. I don’t think any of us are certain why it’s happening,” Jamie Langenbrunner said after the Devils lost their sixth (0-5-1) straight, with just five games left before the playoffs.
Outscored 22-7 in their first six-game losing streak since November 2000, the Devils have been outscored 9-1 in two games this week. They last lost seven straight Jan. 24-Feb. 8, 1986, and will try to avoid matching that pre-Lamoriello skid tomorrow at home against Tampa Bay. The Devils slumped at the end of last season, failing to win in regulation (4-5-1) in their final 10 before losing in five to the Rangers.
Sutter did not rip into his team the way he did Monday, but his urgency remained.
“We’re going through something that’s not an easy thing to go through. It’s a hand we’ve dealt ourselves, and we have to handle it the right way,” Sutter said. “My focus is getting through this. We’re dealing with it. It’s new to [everyone].”
Matt Cooke put the Penguins (11-1-2 in 14) in front 5:55 into play, following Maxime Talbot out from behind the net, to backhand Talbot’s blocked wrap attempt under Brodeur. Just 36 seconds later, on the next shot, Bill Guerin beat Brodeur high, short side, from the right circle, a goal Brodeur shouldn’t have allowed.
Brian Gionta put the Devils on the board at 11:22, tipping, then rebounding Dainius Zubrus’ wrister from the left circle. But Evgeni Malkin scored his 34th from the right circle, this time long side, at 17:11 of the first, during a Penguins power play.
In the second, Sidney Crosby’s 30th went in off his right skate at 9:35, on a power play, and Jordan Staal rebounded Ruslan Fedotenko’s left-wing wrister 13 seconds later for a 5-1 Penguins lead.
After the horn, David Clarkson was challenged by Hal Gill, and Sutter strode across the ice to argue with both referees that Gill should be penalized, only to draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty himself.
Chris Kunitz added his 23rd at 7:08 of the third, drawing chants of “Marty, Marty” from the Igloo crowd.
“A lot of things are hard to explain sometimes,” Brodeur said of the Devils’ nosedive, which also includes their sixth straight defeat on the road.
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Patrik Elias sat out with a recurrence of the lower body injury that kept him out March 23 in Philadelphia.
Said Elias: “I don’t expect it to get 100 percent better,” this season.
Sutter did not offer sympathy.
“He’s too sore to play. We don’t want any excuses out there. Either play and go all out, or you can’t play,” he said with an edge to his voice.
