Observations from the Penguins’ 7-5 loss to the Bruins:

Even if this game was a defensive nightmare for the Penguins, this contest wasn’t without any positive developments for them.

• They did score a healthy five goals.

• Jared McCann continued to look like a real force on the power play.

• They offered an honest effort, even if it led to some defensive miscues.

• And they got offense from a very unlikely source in Mark Jankowski.

When the Penguins signed him as an unrestricted free agent, there were minimal expectations of Jankowski as evidenced by the fact that he was inked to a one-year deal for a league-minimum of $700,000.

And to date, he has largely failed to meet those expectations.

Opening the season on the third line with two pretty solid wingers in McCann and Brandon Tanev, Jankowski teased a bit with three points (one goal, two assists) in his first two games. But after that, he went 21 consecutive games without a point before getting an empty net goal against the lowly Buffalo Sabres on March 13.

Against the Bruins Saturday, Jankowski was one of the team’s driving forces on offense, scoring the opening goal in the first period. Perhaps his most impressive play came in the third period when he deftly maneuvered around a check in the right circle of the offensive zone and set up defenseman Cody Ceci for a goal.

“Being able to contribute on both (sides) of the puck, it’s huge for our team,” Jankowski said. “Any team that wants to go deep and make a run, has to rely on that depth. For a coach to be able to put out any line in any situation, whether offensively or defensively, I think that’s huge for our team.”

Between the prospect of third-line center Teddy Blueger returning to the lineup, the emergence of reserve forward Frederick Gaudreau and the potential for management to add a forward at the upcoming trade deadline, Jankowski’s place in the lineup is hardly assured (to be kind).

But he offered a pretty strong case to avoid a healthy scratch on Saturday.

The likes of Jankowski, Gaudreau, Anthony Angello, Sam Lafferty, Colton Sceviour, Radim Zohorna and others have offered some kind of contribution on offense in recent weeks.

Make no mistake, management can easily find superior alternatives to that crew (a salary cap squeeze notwithstanding). But, with the benefit of opportunity brought on by the multitude of injuries up front over the past month, the Penguins’ reserve forwards have found positive ways to slightly cloud whatever decisions management has to make in the upcoming days.

“It’s encouraging,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s exciting from our standpoint to know that we’ve got guys that can contribute that way. I think these guys have done a great job when they’ve been in the lineup in the roles that we’ve cast them in. It’s hard to win consistently when you don’t get contributions throughout your lineup. And we’ve been getting that from a number of different guys.

What happened

The Penguins took a 1-0 lead 3:24 into regulation thanks to Jankowski. After Jankowski beat Bruins forward Charlie Coyle on a faceoff in Boston’s left circle, Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson settled the puck at the left point, slinked up the wall and launched a wrister. The puck glanced off the sticks of Coyle then Jankowski and floated by the glove of goaltender Jaroslav Halak on the far side. Jankowski was credited with his third goal of the season. Matheson netted the only assist.

The Bruins wasted little time in establishing a frantic pace for the second period. They wasted 11 seconds, to be precise, as forward Patrice Bergeron collected his 11th goal. After Bruins forward Craig Smith won a one-on-one battle against Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin behind the Penguins’ net, the puck slid to the crease where Penguins forward Sidney Crosby tried to clear it. Bergeron corralled the puck in the right circle then pumped a wrister through traffic and past goaltender Casey DeSmith’s blocker on the far side. There were no assists.

Then, only 34 seconds later, forward David Pastrnak’s 15th goal put the Bruins up 2-1. Settling the puck at the right point of the offensive zone, Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy snapped a pass to the slot for forward David Krejci. Spinning to his right, Krejci fired a wrister that struck Bruins forward Nick Ritchie, planted above the crease. The rebound bounced to the right of the blue paint where Pastrnak cleaned up with a wrister past the blocker of an outstretched DeSmith. Ritchie and Krejci had assists.

The Penguins’ top line tied the game exactly two minutes later. After Crosby beat Bruins forward Trent Frederic on a draw in Boston’s right circle, Dumoulin controlled the puck at the right point and banked a pass off the end boards to Crosby. From behind the net, Crosby backhanded a pass to the left circle for forward Jake Guentzel who snapped off a wrister past Halak’s left leg on the far side for his team-leading 16th goal. Assists went to Crosby and Dumoulin.

A power-play goal restored a lead for the Penguins, 3-2, at 5:11 of the second period. Off a backhand pass from the right wing wall by forward Bryan Rust, Crosby gained the offensive zone with speed. From the right half wall, Crosby pitchforked a backhand pass to the slot for Guentzel. Lifting the stick of Bruins defenseman Steven Kampfer, Guentzel settled the puck, went wide to the right of the crease and slipped a backhand pass to the left of the blue paint for McCann who lifted a wrister over Halak’s left skate on the near side for his ninth goal. Guentzel and Crosby picked up assists.

The Bruins tied the game again, 3-3, at 14:56 of the second. After a one-timer from the right point of the Penguins’ zone by McAvoy deflected wide on the near side and bounced off the end boards, Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk pinched up the left wing, swooped behind the net to the right circle where he fed a pass to the slot for forward Brad Marchand. With DeSmith scrambling to his right, Marchand was able to slip a wrister between his blocker and right leg for his 15th goal. Grzelcyk and Smith collected assists.

A power-play goal by Krejci late in the period at the 18:29 mark restored a lead for the Bruins, 4-3. From low in the left circle of the offensive zone, Pastrnak fed a pass to the high slot for Marchand. Surveying the zone for a moment, Marchand snapped a precise pass to the right of the crease where Krejci tapped in his second goal of the season. Assists were credited to Marchand and Pastrnak.

Another goal by Marchand at 19:40 gave the Bruins a two-goal lead. After Bergeron won a draw in the Penguins’ right circle against McCann, McAvoy settled the puck on the right half wall and snapped a pass to the slot for Marchand who ripped a wrister past DeSmith’s blocker. McAvoy and Bergeron had assists.

A goal by Ceci made it a 5-4 game 4:38 into the third period. Off the right half wall of the offensive zone, Lafferty flicked a backhanded pass to the near circle for Jankowski. Avoiding a stick check by Coyle, Jankowski slid the puck to the left circle for Ceci who clunked a wrister off the near post and into the cage for his third goal. Jankowski and Lafferty registered assists.

The Bruins got another goal by Pastrnak at 13:28 of the third. Off a neutral zone turnover by Matheson, Ritchie created a two-on-one rush with Pastrnak against Ceci. From just inside the left circle, Ritchie fed a pass to the right circle for Pastrnak who blew a wrister past DeSmith’s glove on the near side. Ritchie had the only assist.

A short-handed goal by Crosby at 18:45 of the third cut the lead to 6-5. From the right circle of the Bruins’ zone, Crosby tried to deal a pass to Guentzel driving the net. The pass misfired and inexplicably found its way through Halak’s five hole. Crosby was credited with his 15th goal of the season and first short-handed score since Nov. 27, 2010. The lone assist went to Guentzel.

Marchand completed a hat trick with a short-handed empty-net goal at 18:59 of the third period. Coyle and McAvoy had assists.

Statistically speaking

• Shots were even, 28-28.

• Marchand led the game with six shots.

• McCann led the Penguins with five shots.

• McAvoy led the game with 25:24 of ice time on 31 shifts.

• Dumoulin led the Penguins with 24:35 of ice time on 29 shifts.

• The Bruins controlled faceoffs, 34-23 (60%).

• Bergeron was dominant, going 16 for 21 (76%).

• Crosby was 9 for 26 (35%).

• Dumoulin, Krejci, McAvoy and Kampfer each led the game with two blocked shots.

• DeSmith made 21 saves on 27 shots.

• Halak made 23 saves on 28 shots.

Randomly speaking

• In recent weeks, the Penguins have touted their strong defense around the cage as a leading factor in their overall success. That’s to say they’ve prevented a lot of offensive chances off rebounds, screens, redirection, etc.

During the second period on Saturday, all of that was nullified by the Bruins who got most of their offense in the middle frame from within the range of a Roku remote control.

It’s hard to say if the Penguins just had a bad day or if the Bruins exposed something, but the Penguins needed to be better near their crease.

• DeSmith was under duress most of the game. But that shouldn’t be seen as an excuse on his behalf. He has stolen goals during an otherwise outstanding season and he did not do much of that in this game. He could have been better, even if he was little more than target practice at times in this contest.

• McCann has been on the top power-play unit for roughly a week and a half and he already is tied for the team lead with four power-play goals with forwards Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Crosby and Guentzel.

• The second line of McCann, Jason Zucker and Evan Rodrigues seemed to be overwhelmed by the Bruins’ newly configured second line of Ritchie, Krejci and Pastrnak.

• Defense will always be Dumoulin’s bread and butter. That said, the bank pass off the end boards to Crosby on the sequence leading to Guentzel’s goal was very clever. Dumoulin rarely gets enough credit for his offensive acumen.

• To circle back to the Bruins’ second line, they broke up their dominant top line of Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak, sliding Pastrnak to the second line and replacing him with Craig Smith. That seemed to do wonders as they controlled matchups as the home team and spread their offense a bit.

• The Penguins’ five-game winning streak was broken up.

Historically speaking

• For all the monumental accomplishments in his career, Crosby has never been a regular penalty killer. As a result, he only has four career short-handed goals, with the fourth coming on Saturday, by accident almost.

Crosby’s first three career short-handed scores:

Oct. 23, 2009 — Penguins 3, Panthers 2 (SO) — With a late one-goal deficit, the Penguins had Crosby and Malkin each killing a penalty in the third period — a very rare occurrence over their careers — and that deployment resulted in Malkin swooping behind the cage to set up Crosby in the right circle for a wrister against future Penguins goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

March 6, 2010 — Penguins 6, Stars 3 — Later that season — the same in which Crosby won a share of the league’s goal-scoring title for the first time in his career — Crosby and Penguins forward Jordan Staal were each on the ice for a penalty kill early in the third period. After Staal forced a defensive zone turnover, Crosby claimed the puck, pushed it through the neutral zone and created a two-on-one with Staal against future Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen. Approaching the net from the left circle, Crosby lifted a wrister over goaltender Kari Lehtonen’s right shoulder on the near side.

Nov. 27, 2010 — Penguins 4, Flames 1 — Having already scored two goals, Crosby was put on the ice with a two-goal lead late in regulation to pursue a hat trick as the Flames had pulled goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff for an extra attacker. After Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik forced a defensive zone turnover, Crosby airmailed a wrister from behind his own blue line into the vacant net.

• Guentzel (238 points) surpassed forward Ken Schinkel (236) for 37th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Matheson recorded his 100th career point.

• The last time the Penguins allowed seven goals in a game came in a 7-3 road loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 19, 2019.

If you recall, that was the final game of a five-game road trip, primarily out west and it led into an eight-day break between the Penguins’ bye week and the All-Star break. And they were in a town full of vices.

The over was bound to be a safe bet that night.

• The Bruins’ last hat trick against the Penguins was scored by Krejci in an 8-4 win at TD Garden on March 1, 2018. DeSmith allowed two goals while goaltender Tristan Jarry allowed the other.

Publicly speaking

• Jankowski on the Penguins’ defense near the cage:

“Definitely, we’ve got to be harder at our net front. Recently, when we’ve been going well, that’s something that we’ve taken a lot of pride in. … Being able to protect our goalie, get sticks, get bodies and unfortunately we weren’t as good at that tonight and they got a couple of goals off of it.”

• Ceci on the defense near the cage:

“We just weren’t getting to sticks or guys were getting away from us or we were just losing our man in front of the net. That’s where a lot of their goals came from. … Can’t give up that many chances in the slot.”

• Sullivan was happy with this team’s effort:

“It’s certainly not a lack of effort on our players’ part. We recognized how hard we’re competing out there. And we’re playing against a good hockey team. Sometimes, the mistakes that are made are, I like to use the phrase ‘mistakes of enthusiasm.’ We’re trying to do the right thing. Sometimes, we’re trying to do a little too much and we get ourselves in trouble. We’ve got to make sure that we keep the game simple in certain circumstances so that we don’t leave ourselves vulnerable to a transition game or a turnover where we don’t have the ability to recover, we don’t have any sort of defensive posture behind us. Things of that nature.”

Publicly speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

Follow the Penguins all season long.

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