Penguins Win Streak Over, Malkin Turnovers, Seattle Wins 2-1 in OT

The Pittsburgh Penguins (27-10-6) took their sweet time to score a goal on Thursday night. After a pair of ho-hum periods and only 21 shots, Evgeni Malkin buried a power-play wrister midway through the third period. It was the game’s first goal, but another Malkin turnover later in the third period led to the Seattle Kraken’s first goal with only four minutes remaining.

Seattle (14-25-4) blitzed the Penguins in the third period and won 2-1 in OT. Adam Larsson blasted a shot past Tristan Jarry. for the winner. The Penguins have points in seven straight, but their six-game winning streak is over.

Malkin had two rough turnovers in the third period.

“I think we got a little risky at times–probably didn’t manage the puck as well as we would like,” Jeff Carter said. “You know, there they’ve got some skill guys over there, so they’re going to make some plays and (Jarry) held us in it.”

It was with a bit of irony that Malkin scored the Penguins goal. He drew the power play with a bad turnover in the offensive zone. Seattle countered with a two-on-one, but Marcus Johansson bowled over Jarry. Instead of trailing, the Penguins got a power play, and Malkin erased the turnover with a goal (4).

Jarry was razor-sharp in the third period. He faced just nine shots in the first 40 minutes and only four high-danger scoring chances at even strength. However, Seattle generated good pressure on the power play, including defenseman Vince Dunn ringing the post and Johansson’s shot from the mid-wall that trickled through Jarry’s pads but wide of the net.

“I thought we were playing the right way and we controlled territory. We controlled possession time. I thought in the third period we beat ourselves. We turned into a high risk hockey team and a lot of the chances we gave them off the rush were a result of us not making the right decisions with the puck,” Mike Sullivan said. “And it’s hard to win consistently when you play a high-risk game.”

After Malkin’s subsequent turnover in the third period, Jarry stopped old nemesis, Jordan Eberly, on a breakaway. However, on the resulting offensive zone faceoff, former Penguin Jared McCann (17) deflected a shot past Jarry to send the game to overtime.

Jarry stopped 26 of 27 shots in regulation. Seattle outshot the Penguins 18-4 in the third period.

“I thought he was really solid in the third. They outplayed us in the third period and he made some big saves for us. You know, there was a breakaway, a two on one, so I thought he was really solid in the third,” Sullivan said.

Jarry also stoned Ryan Donato from point-blank range with about five minutes remaining and again in the final seconds. Seattle blitzed the Penguins in the third period but could not crack Jarry.

After 20 minutes, the Penguins had Seattle where they wanted them. It was another quiet, ho-hum first period. Only two players had more than one shot: Evan Rodrigues (2) and Jake Guentzel (3). However, the advanced stats lined up with the eye tests, as Seattle had more high-danger scoring chances (4-3).

Jarry was sharp enough to swat away a couple of rebounds that landed in dangerous spots. However, neither team came close to lighting the lamp.

The second period had more Pittsburgh Penguins flavor, but still no goals. It took a while to get the home team’s legs energized, but Seattle winger Marcus Johansson broke his stick in the defensive zone midway through the period. Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins kept the puck in the zone for more than two minutes.

2021 Vezina Trophy finalist Philipp Grubauer made a few saves. The Penguins dominated the period and outshot Seattle 9-2. They also blocked 11 shots. To that point, the Pittsburgh Penguins allowed only 25 shots over their last 5 periods (Arizona, Seattle).

The Penguins one point put them in a first-place tie with the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers at 60 points. Carolina has more ROWs (28) against the Penguins and New York (25). The Penguins remain in second place.