McGroarty Scores Late; Penguins Can’t Overcome Mistakes in OT Fall

ST. LOUIS — After a good start and some good goaltending, the Pittsburgh Penguins heaped mistakes and chances upon the already red-hot St. Louis Blues.

The Penguins gifted St. Louis a trio of breakaway goals with unexplainable defensive coverages and left a few more St. Louis players open for glorious chances. However, the Penguins’ late charge was enough to force overtime, as Rutger McGroarty (1) scored his first NHL goal with just 25 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game 4-4.

The Penguins mustered just 17 shots on goal but got to overtime despite a two-goal third period deficit. Robert Thomas scored a power-play goal for the OT winner at 2:12 of overtime. St. Louis beat the Penguins 5-4 in overtime.

Fellow rookie Ville Koivunen assisted on McGroarty’s first NHL goal.

Good omens abounded in the early minutes, even as the Penguins reverted to bad habits. Just a couple of minutes into the game, a Penguins defensive breakdown allowed Alexey Toropchenko to retrieve a chip-in at full stride and snap an uncontested shot on Jarry, but the Penguins goalie made the save.

In fact, Jarry cleaned up a few Penguins’ defensive breakdowns in the first period.

A minute after Jarry stopped Toropchenko, the Penguins counter-attacked, and rookie Rutger McGroarty earned his first NHL point. McGroarty, 21, stopped the St. Louis clearing attempt on the wall and poked it forward to Bryan Rust.

Rust (27) executed his favorite move by racing to the net along the goal line, sweeping past St. Louis goalie Joel Hoffer, and stuffing the forehand into an empty net at 3:32.

After Jarry’s saves and the Penguins’ goal, St. Louis struggled, generating just four shots in the first period.

However, St. Louis jump-started their game in the second period, and the Penguins were little more than jobbers in a dark-card wrestling match.

Just 39 seconds into the second period, Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk’s turnover in the offensive zone was quickly in the back of the Penguins’ net. McGroarty raced back to cover the net on an odd-man break, but Kris Letang didn’t pick up Jake Neighbors (20), who whipped a quick shot past Jarry from the hashmarks.

St. Louis continued to attack, though the Penguins sneaked a goal during the onslaught. Connor Dewar (4) scored a greasy goal, capping a high-pressure sequence around the St. Louis net.

Dewar was goalless in 31 games this season with the Toronto Maple Leafs but has four goals in 11 games with the Penguins.

St. Louis redoubled their efforts for the remainder of the second period, scoring twice more, capitalizing on the Penguins’ mistakes. Pavel Buchnevich (16) took advantage of Penguins defenseman Conor Timmins’s turnover at center ice for a breakaway goal at 6:48 of the second.

Just 77 seconds later, Jordan Kyrou got behind the Penguins’ defense and settled defenseman Cam Fowler’s alley-oop pass that fluttered high in the air over the Penguins’ defensemen at center. Kyrou (33) never broke stride and scored on the breakaway at 8:05.

The Penguins mustered little to no offensive pressure for most of the second period, getting just six shots on goal in the period, and a few of them were on the sequence that ended with Dewar’s goal.

Midway through the third period, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby set-up Rickard Rakell to cut the lead to 4-3. The goal extended Crosby’s point’s streak to 11 games.

St. Louis’s win pushed them ever closer to a playoff spot. They began the game seven points clear of the Calgary Flames (though Calgary has two games in hand). Calgary vs. the Anaheim Ducks was the late game on the NHL schedule and had not concluded prior to publishing.

On paper, Jarry had a rough night, but in reality, he was good. He stopped 13 of 17 in regulation, while St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer stopped 23 of 27.

Editor’s note: the shot totals were corrected minutes after the game.

Penguins Notes

His first-period assist was McGroarty’s first NHL point. It came in his fifth career game.

Joona Koppanen is with the team as an emergency call-up. He played in place of the recently waived Emil Bemstrom, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury.

Bryan Rust is one goal shy of tying his career high set last season.

St. Louis had won their last 10 games. Their last loss was against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on March 14.