Sidney Crosby holds Pens responsible: 3 Pittsburgh Penguins takeaways from 4-3 loss to Vancouver Canucks

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered Saturday night's game against the Vancouver Canucks looking to stop the bleeding, having dropped four games straight. Unfortunately, they'll have to wait for another night to get themselves out of the loss column.

Pittsburgh blew a 2-0 lead, thanks to an offensive outburst by the Canucks in the second period, scoring three goals in just 1:05 minutes of game time.

The Penguins seized a two-goal lead thanks to Anthony Beauvillier's third goal of the season midway through the first period, followed by an early second tally by Bryan Rust. It was also his third goal of the campaign.

However, the Canucks got things going when forward Elias Pettersson scored his first goal of the year, followed by a tally from Kiefer Sherwood just seconds later. Vancouver had suddenly tied the score in less than a minute of gameplay, but the team was only getting started.

Just 21 seconds later, Vancouver took the lead courtesy of J.T. Miller's fourth goal, which was followed by Arshdeep Bains' first tally five minutes later.

3 takeaways from the Penguins' Saturday night loss against the Canucks at Rogers Arena

#1. Pittsburgh continued its unfortunate trend of allowing multiple goals

Despite repeated efforts, the Penguins continued to suffer defensive breakdowns, as evidenced by them allowing three Canucks goals in just over 60 seconds of game time, but that's just the beginning of Pittsburgh's woes.

No team in the NHL has surrendered more goals than the Penguins, who fell to 3-6-1 with the loss. Pittsburgh's goaltending has been mostly inadequate so far in the young season, with starter Tristan Jarry being sent home to work on the fundamentals.

They've also been outscored 18-9 so far in their road trip.

#2. The Penguins' poor performance isn't sitting right with the team's most important player

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby decided to stick around in the only NHL home he's ever known, agreeing to a contract extension rather than becoming a free agent next summer.

However, the mistakes continue to pile up from the rest of his teammates, which include multiple unforced errors in Saturday night's setback against the Canucks. The fact that they not only blew their two-goal lead but surrendered multiple goals in succession led him to call the rest of them out publicly:

“We just can’t chase a mistake with another one,” a frustrated Crosby said afterward. “There’s got to be a certain awareness when we do give up one. We’ve got to follow it up with a good shift or at least get the momentum back and try to counter that.”

#3. Evgeni Malkin continues to pile up points despite the losses

Another Pittsburgh franchise icon who will have his jersey number retired at the end of his playing days, along with Crosby, Malkin picked up a goal in the third period and now has 14 points on the season, tied for third overall in the NHL.

The Penguins return home to face the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night, which will likely mark the final appearance of former Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in his former home, as he intends to retire at the end of the season.