Phil Kessel has often been criticized for appearing absent on the ice when he’s not scoring, but his recent slump has hit a new low.
Just recently, in the Penguins’s past two games, two separate goals against have either been the direct cause of a blunder by Kessel or have involved him in some way.
During the New Jersey game, even though Jack Johnson made an untimely pinch and got caught on the forecheck, Kessel, the last man back, flubbed on the puck and got stripped by Marcus Johansson for a backhand goal — forever cementing him on the Devils’ 2018-19 highlight reel.