PITTSBURGH — If the PPG Paints Arena crowd’s timid reactions to the Penguins’ pregame introductions were any indication of how the team’s Friday-night game against Winnipeg was expected to go, there was correctly little reason to hope for a winning effort.
The injured-and-ill Penguins dropped a 4-1 decision to the Jets as Pittsburgh operated without arguably its top three defensemen and instead used Brian Dumoulin and Mark Friedman for its top defensive pairing. The Penguins were outshot 40-23 on a night where Winnipeg could seemingly get wherever it wanted on the offensive end.
Kris Letang remains in Montreal with his family following the death of his father, in addition to dealing with a lower-body injury. Jeff Petry, meanwhile, is still on long-term injured reserve and Marcus Pettersson sat out with illness.
