With eight regulars sidelined for injuries and various maladies, the Pittsburgh Penguins lost their fourth straight game, 5-1, to the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday night.
“I believe we have what it takes to win. I believe we have enough,” Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said. “We understand that some of the guys we have out of our lineup are difficult to replace. They’re good players, so we understand that. But we also believe we 
have what it takes to win.
“That’s where our focus needs to be. We can’t control the other stuff. What we can control is the lineup that goes into the game each and every night. We believe we have enough to win games.”
The Penguins have been looking to gain some ground in the race for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division but four straight losses will get it done.
After being routed by the Florida Panthers, an angry Hawks team built a 4-0 lead and never looked back Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.
“I thought we did a lot of good things,” Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said. “We had a great start. Some nice plays on the goals. I thought the Tampa Bay [Lightning] game [on Monday (a 5-4 overtime loss)] was like that for 30 minutes, but I liked the continuation of today’s game. … I thought we played a safe and smart game with the lead.”
That four-goal lead came off strikes by Artemi Panarin, Richard Panik, Marcus Kruger and Marian Hossa .
Chicago’s final goal came early in the third on breakaway from Tanner Kero for a 5-0 lead and there was no push back by the Pens.
Corey Crawford got the win on the strength of 31 saves.
“[The game] was really good. It was a really good start,” Crawford said. “Obviously, we scored a bunch of goals, but I thought our game was even better after that. We had some good kills to not give them momentum on their power play. It was a great game, full game for us.”
WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Penguins highlights
Marc-Andre Fleury took the loss on 31 saves.
“The last couple of games haven’t been good enough. … We’ve just got to be better. That’s the bottom line,” the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby said.
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