It’s only one game.

That was, no doubt, the phrase that pays in the Penguins locker room after Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Montreal. It’s only one game.

The Penguins lost their first playoff game to the New York Islanders last season, also in OT. That was only one game. Then the Penguins got swept.

Saturday was, indeed, only one game. It also is the seventh in a series of consecutive playoff losses. But it’s only one game.

The Penguins lost to the 24th seed, the one team that truly doesn’t deserve to be in the playoffs, that dumped players at the trade deadline because it didn’t remotely see itself as a contender, and that would doubtless rather have a 12.5% chance (via lottery) at next draft’s consensus No. 1 pick than win this series.

It was no fluke. The Canadiens were worthy winners. They outshot the Penguins, 12-7, in overtime. Jeff Petry’s winning goal was no fluke. Montreal goalie Carey Price made 39 saves but was tested only occasionally. The Penguins’ 18-shot first period produced no goals and a lot of easy stops. Traffic in front of Price was minimal all night.

The Penguins didn’t play winning playoff hockey. They played men’s no-check, symbolic of hockey in August — like the summer rec league at Ice Castle. Mind-numbingly easy to play against.

Will they rebound and win the series? Maybe, maybe not. In NHL history, teams that win the first game of a best-of-five win the series 88% of the time. (Best-of-five got used for the playoffs’ opening round from 1980-86. It’s a small sample.)

It is only one game, so the Penguins won’t change much for Game 2. But they should.

Conor Sheary shouldn’t play with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel. Sheary makes the line too small, and it plays too wide. Attacking off the rush is the only option because grinding down low doesn’t work. Guentzel was flat on the ice more than the puck was. It’s like he turned into Sheary.

Yeah, I know: “Sid and the Kids.” Catchy name. That was then. This is now.

Patric Hornqvist is an option. Crosby hates his lack of speed through the neutral zone. But Hornqvist forces Crosby to work more down low and shares the physical burden. Crosby shouldn’t be the biggest, most physical player on his line.

Jason Zucker is an option. He worked well with Crosby upon his acquisition from Minnesota. Zucker is only 5-foot-10, 174 pounds, but plays more reckless, more in the middle of the ice and can’t be knocked over with a feather duster.

The third line of Jared McCann, Patrick Marleau and Hornqvist was useless, as evidenced by it playing less than the fourth line — which did not exactly have a peach of a game, either: all three players at minus-2.

Marleau should be scratched in favor of Sam Lafferty or Evan Rodrigues and should never have been acquired. What does a team chock full of Stanley Cup-winners need with a 40-year-old who was on a bunch of contenders and never won? What does he add? He’s here for a cheap lifetime achievement award. He’s not contributing.

We’re often told the Penguins are built on speed. So play the fastest guys.

The power play is a mess, as analyzed earlier in this space. It was 1 for 7 on Saturday and couldn’t score five-on-three. Try something else. Anything else. But start with putting a right-handed shot on the left half-wall. Simplicity will follow.

Matt Murray didn’t lose Saturday’s game. But he didn’t win it, either. Murray made a few big saves. But he spilled too many pucks he should have controlled. He was often too deep in the net.

Murray shouldn’t be pulled based on Saturday’s performance. Unless you think Tristan Jarry should have started in the first place. Maybe that change would affect a spark. The Penguins need a spark.

Fans have their preordained scapegoats: Jack Johnson took heat on Twitter for Saturday’s loss. He was minus-2 and didn’t cover himself in glory.

Some are above criticism. But maybe they shouldn’t be. Not anymore.

Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combined for one point Saturday. That’s unacceptable.

In those seven consecutive playoff losses, Crosby has two goals and two assists. Malkin has one goal and three assists. That’s unacceptable.

Mike Sullivan is a brilliant, accomplished coach. But, like Dan Bylsma before him, his stubbornness might get him into trouble. It’s more important to win than it is to be right.

If the Penguins go out early in these playoffs — and especially to Montreal — it’s very likely their run of contending is over. That’s nobody’s fault. Nothing lasts forever.

But if I were one of the key principles, I wouldn’t look at Saturday as just one game and maintain the status quo. The status quo isn’t good enough, and hasn’t been for quite some time.

Listeners to my program might remember me saying that, going into the playoffs, the Penguins were the best team on paper. Was I overreacting then, or am I overreacting now? We’ll find out soon enough. But this is the business I’ve chosen.

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