Jake Guentzel salvaged one point by scoring his second goal of the night with 20.6 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, but Pittsburgh couldn’t find two in their 4-3 shootout loss to the Flyers on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Philadelphia improved to 12-10-2 (26 points), while the Penguins are now 11-10-2 (24 points). They will meet again at Wells Fargo Center for a rematch on Monday.
“It’s disappointing. We got a lot better than that,” Guentzel said. “We just weren’t good enough tonight from the start. We got them again on Monday, and it’s another big game, they’re ahead of us in the standings. We just got to be a lot better.”
For the most part, it was a relatively low-event game - save for some Flyers momentum following a power play - until Kris Letang registered his second goal of the season late in the second period. His wrist shot took a friendly bounce past Flyer goaltender Samuel Ersson.
Later in the period, Owen Tippett managed a pseudo-breakaway, but Jarry snared the wrist shot to keep Philadelphia scoreless. Barely a minute later, however, an identical play unfolded, and this time, Tippett would not be denied. He put home a backhander, and the game was tied at one in the second intermission.
Pittsburgh’s second goal came less than two minutes into the third period, when Erik Karlsson used his vision to swing a pass across the blue paint. Guentzel was waiting at the back post. His re-direction gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead, but it didn’t last long.
Philadelphia struck back with a shorthanded goal to even the score. A few minutes later, the Flyers drew a penalty during another Pittsburgh power play, with Tyson Forester converting the abbreviated man-advantage to give Philadelphia a 3-2 lead.
With Jarry off for the extra skater, the Penguins were able to get a 6-on-5 goal in the waning seconds of regulation. But they failed to convert on a 4-on-3 power play in the final minute of overtime. The Penguins didn’t score in the shootout, and the Flyers were able to snag the victory with Sean Couturier getting the only goal.
Pittsburgh’s power play finished 0-for-5 on the night, with a shorthanded goal conceded. The Penguins have not scored on the power play since Nov. 11 versus Buffalo, going 0-for-26 over that span. It’s something that many players are keen to fix as soon as possible.
“If we had an answer, we’d do it. We’ve got to find it quick.” Rust said. “It’s obviously something that needs to get going with the personnel we have in this room.”
The Penguins will certainly work on it at practice on Sunday before heading out for another crack at their cross-state rival in just a couple of days. Here’s what Head Coach Mike Sullivan had to say after Saturday’s loss.
With your power play, just what’s the level of frustration or even surprise with some of the struggles you've had there all season long? “Well, obviously, everybody that's involved is really invested, and everybody cares about what's going on there. The players that are on it are proud guys. So, obviously, the fact that we haven't got some traction with it, we haven't got it going yet, is a little bit disappointing for all of us. But we can't let that get in the way of our motivation to get it going forward. That's where our mindset needs to be.”
Building off that, since you've been here with Kris Letang on the top unit, the team has been in the top 10 four times on the power play. Do you feel like he should be involved more on that top unit? “Well, we're going to certainly consider everything at this point, because we have to find a way to get better and make improvements. So, I don't think we can keep anything off the table just as far as personnel groups or tactics or whatever. Obviously, Kris has been a big part of it for a long time.”
A couple of the guys were critical of their energy level. How did you think your team performed tonight, especially with the engagement and the energy? “I don't think we were very good.”
Not to sugarcoat anything, but two goals by Jake Guentzel, pretty typical of the types of goals that he scores. I suppose there’s not any surprise there he got a couple in that fashion? “I think Jake's one of the better players in the league around the net. He plays a lot of courage. He goes to that area a lot, and he’s scored a lot of goals in that area over his time here in Pittsburgh. He's really good in that area.”
