For the third straight game in this new year, the Penguins came away with one of two points, falling in a shootout to Columbus on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena. The Blue Jackets moved past Pittsburgh into the second Wild Card playoff spot with the win.
“It stinks to fight back in this game and then let it go and lose another shootout or overtime,” Rickard Rakell said. “It's been a lot of tight games. We got to find a way to get the two points.”
“It stings, for sure. It stings,” Marcus Pettersson agreed. “There’s some points where we pulled points back. The Florida point was huge for us, and against Carolina, too, we got back in it in the third. But we kind of gave it away in the second. So, they come by different ways. But I think we’re fighting our [butts] off. It was just critical mistakes today that cost us. But we fought.”
The Penguins weren’t overly thrilled with how they played in the first two periods, even though the score was knotted at 1-1 after 40 minutes. They felt the final frame was their strongest of the night, despite the result. The Penguins built a 3-1 lead and were in complete control before not managing certain circumstances properly.
“It’s discouraging because the irony of it is we give up two goals in the third period, and the third period was our best period that we played all night,” Head Coach Mike Sullivan said.
“It’s weird because we didn’t play well in the first two periods,” Kris Letang said. “The third period we played well, but they still found a way to hurt us with execution. It hurts because they’re pretty important points right now.”
Rakell scored twice to get Pittsburgh that two-goal cushion, but Dmitri Voronkov put Columbus back within one after capitalizing on a breakout gone wrong for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry tried rimming the puck along the wall, but the Blue Jackets forward got his body behind it and ended up burying it.
“We had complete control of the game. We don't execute on an exchange on our breakout. The puck ends up in the back of our net,” Sullivan said.
After that, the Penguins were shorthanded with less than four minutes to play when Blake Lizotte was called for slashing, a penalty that Sullivan called a “head scratcher.” From there, the penalty kill didn’t get the job done, with Adam Fantilli finding the tying goal. That group hasn't been performing up to the standard they’ve established for much of the season.
"A lot of it just boils down to details,” Sullivan said. “It's anticipation, playing on our toes. I don't think we're pressuring collectively as well as we were. And so, we're giving them time and space to operate. That's part of it. There's opportunities to get clears, we don't get them, that's part of it. So, I think at the end of the day, I think a lot of it boils down to details that we've let slip here on our kill.”
The Penguins had a number of Grade-A chances in overtime, with Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins standing on his head. Kent Johnson then got the game-deciding tally in the shootout.
“I don’t think we’re playing fantastic, but I don’t think we’re playing poorly," Bryan Rust said. "You see the last three games, two shootouts and an overtime - we’ve got to find a way to get extra points in those situations.”
--Michelle Crechiolo
Here are some notes from tonight...
- Malkin Misses Game
Although Evgeni Malkin had participated in the team’s full morning skate, he did not take warmups, and the team announced shortly before puck drop that the forward would not dress for Tuesday’s game. Malkin is currently listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. The last time Malkin was sidelined came back in the 2021-22 season, when he was suspended for four games. Tonight ended Malkin’s streak of 209 consecutive games played. Cody Glass shifted up to center the second line in Malkin’s absence.
- Tricky Ricky Gets His 20th
Rickard Rakell’s second tally of the night marked the sixth time in his career that he has scored 20 or more goals in a single season. Rakell is only the second Swedish player in the league to reach the 20-goal mark this season after Toronto's William Nylander. It’s an impressive feat in and of itself, but especially considering the season he had last year, where Rakell was plagued with injury and production issues. He’s having one heck of a bounce-back, and continues to show Team Sweden why he should have been on their 4 Nations Face-Off Roster.
- Bunting Continues to Spark the Power Play
With his goal early in the second period, Michael Bunting recorded his 13th goal of the season and notched his 17th point (7G-10A) in his last 17 games. **He keeps rolling, thanks to some wise words from Kevin Hayes**. Bunting’s marker extended his team lead for power-play goals with eight, and established a new career high in that category for the forward. His eight goals on the man advantage since November 15 lead the entire NHL. He’s been a big catalyst for the power play’s success, as it has scored in six out of the last seven games dating back to December 23. In that span, the team has gone 10-for-23 (43.5%).
- Karlsson Extends Point Streak
With two assists, Erik Karlsson has racked up 18 points (2G-17A) over his past 19 games. Against Columbus, he led all Penguin skaters in ice time with 24:40, blocked shots (3), and tied Rakell for the team lead in shots on goal (4).
- King of the Dot
Sidney Crosby now holds the record for the most faceoff wins in NHL history after winning his 15,183rd (since the NHL started tracking the stat in the 1997-98 season), surpassing Patrice Bergeron (15,182).
--Brandon Karafilis
