Penguins Winless Spiral Continues; Fleury Dunks on Pens 5-3

PITTSBURGH — Holding two goals leads and the Pittsburgh Penguins have become mortal enemies for whom there is no common ground. For the third time in five games, the Penguins claimed a 2-0 lead only to throw it away faster than a stack of junk mail, losing to the Minnesota Wild 5-3 at PPG Paints Arena.

The Penguins are winless in their last six games (0-5-1).

Perhaps the defensive gaffes and lack of pushback were a gift to departing friend Marc-Andre Fleury, who was honored by fans and a video tribute during his final start in Pittsburgh after playing the first 13 years of his career for the Penguins.

“It is something that definitely gives you butterflies and stuff. I think the first time (I came back) there was a video. (This time), I didn’t want to look because the last time, the short video was emotional, too,” Fleury said. “The other part of me was like ‘just go. drop the puck.’ Get this going, you know?”

But those two-goal leads and the Penguins get along slightly worse than MAGA and Harris folks at a Thanksgiving table. Fleury might like to have back the Penguins’ first goal. On the Penguin’s second power play of the first period, courtesy of Marco Rossi’s high-sticking minor, Valtteri Puustinen (1) let loose a seeing-eye wrist shot through traffic and Fleury’s five-hole at 11:36.

For the record, Puustinen turned four just days after Fleury was drafted by the Penguins in 2003.

The Penguins tempted the hockey gods and scored again a few minutes later. From the high slot, Rickard Rakell spun around the defender, unleashing a high, far-post wrister past Fleury at 15:31.

And those hockey gods reacted.

Minnesota scored 92 seconds later when a Minnesota fourth-liner took advantage of Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves’s bad luck. Graves’s clear off the glass hit the linesman, and Jakub Lauko scored on what should have been an innocent shot from the goal line. However, Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist wasn’t tight to the post, and the puck squeezed in at 17:03.

And like clockwork, Minnesota quickly scored again. The Penguins fourth line, now centered by Kevin Hayes as part of a significant lineup overhaul, failed to cover Frederick Gaudreau about 15 feet from the net. Gaudreau picked his spot on Blomqvist for a 2-2 game at 17:58.

The end of the first period didn’t change the Penguins’ fortunes. At the beginning of the second period, the Penguins’ mistakes weren’t done. The usually reliable Lars Eller committed a turnover at the offensive blue line, which quickly became a breakaway goal for Gaudreau (2) and a 3-2 lead at 1:38 of the second period.

The Penguins eventually pushed back later in the second period. Anthony Beauvilier created some chaos and offensive chances with a few puckbattle wins, but Eller hit the post at the end of the shift with about five minutes remaining in the second period.

Not only did the Penguins show their warts with a 2-0 lead and immediately following a goal, they failed to protect themselves in the final minute of a period, too. More defensive gaffes spotted Minnesota a 4-2 lead in the final minute of the second period when no one covered Mats Zuccarello a few feet from the net. Neither defensemen (Kris Letang and Marcus Pettersson) nor forwards (Noel Acciari) spotted the longtime Penguins killer standing in the open on the backdoor, and Zuccarello (5) easily tapped in a goal at 19:23.

The third period was chaos. The Penguins scored to pull within one when Sidney Crosby’s backcheck takeaway kept possession in the offensive zone. Defenseman Marcus Pettersson’s shot was perfectly deflected by Rakell (6) at 3:36.

However, the Penguins couldn’t stay out of the penalty box in the final 10 minutes. In five minutes, they took four minor penalties and created a pair of 5v3 Minnesota power plays.

Fleury made a diving shoulder save on Eller in the final 90 seconds to preserve the win. Kirill Kaprizov scored the empty netter for his sixth-straight multi-point game.

“A little bit (like the Stanley Cup-winning save in 2009). I thought about it, too. When I made the saves, I was like, that’s good. Like old times,” Fleury said.

The moment was a perfect end to Fleury’s Pittsburgh arc.

Game Notes

Les Binkley, the Penguin’s original goaltender in 1967, was also in attendance.

The Penguins indeed reunited the “two-headed monster,” putting Malkin on a line with Crosby. Lars Eller became the second-line center with Drew O’Connor and Acciari.

Jack St. Ivany had his first NHL fight in the second period. After Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber roughed up Penguins’ captain Crosby in the second period, St. Ivany didn’t let Faber get past the red line before making him drop the gloves. Referees didn’t give St. Ivany an instigator, instead giving him an extra two minutes for roughing at 10:39.

According to NaturalStatTrick.com, Minnesota led the Penguins 4-0 in high-danger scoring chances in the first period.