Carter Wants Penguins ‘To Look In The Mirror’

The Pittsburgh Penguins talked some about taking some positives from their 2-1 loss Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres – their third loss in a row – but veteran forward Jeff Carter also made some mental notes.

He figures they will be talking points soon enough.

“There are things that I see. It’s stuff that we’ll talk about in the (locker) room,” Carter said after the game at PPG Paints Arena.

Some of that might be approach or intensity. He wasn’t offering a lot of details.

However, he did divulge one area he feels strongly about.

“I’m a firm believer that when you have an opportunity to put a puck on net, you put it on net. When you do that, when you’re struggling, you get bodies there, good things usually happen,” Carter said.

Curiously, he said that on a night when the Penguins registered 46 shots – not necessarily an example of passing up shots – but were thwarted by Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski.

In fact, the Penguins held a 20-3 shot advantage in the third period, when they picked up their only goal – and a power-play tally at that – but that didn’t leave Carter with an overall glowing assessment.

“We’ll take some positives, but we’ve got to start getting some points here,” he said. “We have to stay positive and stick to our game. It’s the NHL. You’re not going to cruise through a season. I don’t care what team you’re on. You’re going to have your ups and downs.

“We’re finding our way right now.”

Team captain Sidney Crosby earlier in the day and, after the game, defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Jason Zucker talked about playing with more urgency and intensity throughout games.

Perhaps you like the idea of desperation better.

Coach Mike Sullivan does not.

“I’ve never been a big fan of that word, desperation, because it suggests that you’re not in control, and I don’t think that’s certainly not a vision that we want for our players,” Sullivan said.

“I think what (the players) are alluding to is playing the game on your toes with a whole lot of urgency, playing an assertive game, ratcheting up intensity level.”

That’s something Carter can get on board with.

“You’ve got to just take a look in the mirror here, get back to work,” Carter said.