The first period started off well enough for the Penguins. They killed a Bruins power play and grabbed a 1-0 lead midway through the period, but the wheels fell off after that. The Bruins scored three unanswered goals in less than seven minutes to close out the first. It was less what the Bruins were doing to the Penguins than the mistakes Pittsburgh made on its own, including seven first-period giveaways, several of which Boston turned into goals.

The second period followed a similar script. The Penguins scored the first goal of the frame, but the Bruins got the next two and dominated play. Pittsburgh committed five more giveaways, and by the end of the period Erik Karlsson was a minus-4. In what was a microcosm of the poor decisions the Penguins made all night, down by three in the waning seconds of the period, Rickard Rakell inexplicably passed up a glorious scoring chance and instead tried a shot-pass to Sidney Crosby that didn’t come close to connecting, much to the chagrin of the PPG Paints Arena crowd.

The third period was simply a lost cause. The Penguins gave up another goal, squandered an embarrassing two-on-none, and generally looked like they were skating in mud. They managed only three shots in the third and added another seven giveaways for a total of 19 on the night.

The Penguins have now lost four consecutive games and remain stuck at 12 points, mired at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Things don’t get any easier as they embark on a three-game California road trip through Los Angeles, Anaheim, and San Jose.