Connect with us

Penguins

Penguins Lose Another Lead, Another Game. Is Hope Next?

Published

on

Pittsburgh Penguins Game Lose 4-2 Seattle Kraken

The snow made it challenging for a lot of Pittsburgh Penguins fans to make it to PPG Paints Arena Tuesday evening.



The lucky ones didn’t.

The people who did reach the arena watched the Penguins squander yet another third-period lead and fall to Seattle, 4-2, as the Kraken scored three unanswered goals in the third period.

The loss means the Penguins are two games below NHL .500 (18-20-8) and took just three of a possible 10 points out of their five-game homestand, which they finished 1-3-1.

That’s not a disappointment for a team straining to remain in contention for a wild-card playoff berth; it’s a disaster.

Especially when the Penguins will now embark on a season-long seven-game road trip.

The victory was a rare one for the Kraken, who entered the game in a 3-9-1 freefall.

The Penguins took a 2-1 lead into the third period, but Seattle pulled even when defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, a Penguins alum, beat Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry from near the left hash mark at 8:04.

Just 50 seconds later, Kraken winger Eeli Tolvanen scored what proved to be the game-winner from the front lip of the crease to give Seattle a 3-2 lead. Kaapo Kakko hit an empty net with 63 seconds left in regulation to close out the scoring.

Two second-line forwards — center Evgeni Malkin and winger Michael Bunting — rejoined the Penguins’ lineup against Seattle.

Malkin had missed the previous four games because of an unspecified upper-body injury, while Bunting was held out of their 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay Sunday after being involved in an auto accident near PPG Paints Arena.

Seattle’s scratches were headlined by Penguins-killer Jordan Eberle and Yanni Gourde. Eberle has missed 28 games in a row while recovering from pelvic surgery and is not expected to play until after the Four Nations tournament break next month.

Seattle was caught with too many men on the ice just 71 seconds into the game, but the Kraken were the only team to score while they were down a man.

Chandler Stephenson got the goal at 2:12, beating Jarry from high in the right circle. Jarry got a piece of the shot, which was Seattle’s second of the game, but could not stop it.

That proved to be the Kraken’s final shot of the first period. The Penguins also limited the Lightning to two shots in the opening 20 minutes Sunday.

Penguins forward Cody Glass left the game at 5:42 of the opening period after being shoved to the ice by Oleksiak. Glass had to be helped off the ice, but returned before the intermission,

Philip Tomasino pulled the Penguins even, 1-1, at 9:19 with his fifth of the season, swatting in a puck that was laying in the crease behind Kraken goalie Joey Daccord. Kris Letang and Drew O’Connor got assists.

The Penguins piled up 16 shots before the intermission, but were unable to manufacture a second goal.

They got that at 4:42 of the second period, when there was a delayed penalty coming on the Kraken.

Jarry had left the ice for an extra attacker when Erik Karlsson fed a pass to Bryan Rust, who was at the bottom of the left circle and threw a shot past Daccord for his 17th. Malkin got the second assist.

Rust scored seconds after Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson flattened Sidney Crosby with a cross-check. Crosby went directly to the locker room, but was back on the bench a couple of minutes later.

Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph picked up a cross-checking minor at 6:53, but the Penguins made it through those two minutes unscathed and preserved their lead for the balance of the period.

The second intermission arrived with 38.6 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock. Off-ice officials explained that was because the clock had not started when it was supposed to after the previous stoppage in play.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to practice Wednesday at noon at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.