Tough Loss in Arizona Has Frustrating Finish

Trailing by one entering the final frame of their matchup with Arizona on Monday, the Penguins gave up an own goal on a delayed penalty call. Kris Letang dropped a pass to Evgeni Malkin at the blue paint that he couldn’t corral, with the puck ending up in the back of the empty net with Tristan Jarry on the bench for the extra attacker.

“I think we just have to have a heightened awareness that we don't have a goalie in the net in that scenario,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think we've got to try to avoid making plays in that area. I think if we have a heightened awareness, then we don't fall victim of a bad bounce or whatever it may be.”

“I should know better, I should not go backward when there is no goalie,” Letang said.

Less than three minutes later, Nick Bjugstad got behind Pittsburgh’s defense to give the Coyotes a 5-2 lead, which stood as the final score on a night where the Penguins just didn’t have it.

“(Our response) wasn’t good enough,” Sullivan said.

Penguins fans packed Mullett Arena for the matchup, with plenty of black and gold in the double attack zone of the 5,000-seat rink. They started periodic “Let’s Go Pens!” chants throughout the night, and made it sound like home whenever Pittsburgh scored, with Lars Eller and Sidney Crosby getting the crowd to their feet.

Eller’s goal came early in the second period to even the score at 1-1 after former Penguin Jason Zucker tallied at the beginning of the first, with West Mifflin native Logan Cooley sweeping over a beautiful one-handed pass for the re-direct.

While Juuso Valimaki put Arizona back in front at the 11:04 mark, the Penguins took advantage of some power-play time in the final minutes of the middle frame. Right after the Coyotes went back to even strength, the captain scored his 27^th (!) of the season with assists from Erik Karlsson – who extended his point streak to nine games – and Malkin.

But the Coyotes regained their lead around 90 seconds later, which meant the Penguins had to try and rally in the third after entering the final frame with leads in each of their previous two games.

“I think it just seemed like when we did get some traction in the game – we get the second goal, for example, and we got some juice – but then we give one up a minute later. That’s demoralizing, I think,” Sullivan said. “So, we've got to do a better job in critical moments in the game.”

The Penguins did have a strong shift to open the third, with Crosby’s line battling at the blue paint, and Jake Guentzel not pleased that he wasn’t able to convert a Grade-A chance.

“I gotta score on that one. I can’t miss that one… that’s sometimes the difference right there,” said the winger, who hit the 20-goal mark for a seventh consecutive season in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Vegas. “If I score, it’s a totally different game. So I just gotta bear down and bury that one.”

From there, it was all Arizona, and now the Penguins will head home from their two-game road trip with somewhat of a sour taste in their mouths.

It started out well, as Pittsburgh had built a 3-0 lead over the defending Stanley Cup Champions the other night before the Golden Knights rallied for three unanswered goals to get the win.

But tonight felt like somewhat of an uphill battle from the beginning, and the Penguins again ended up on the wrong side of the result.

When asked if he was discouraged with the last four periods – especially since the Penguins had picked up points in 13 of 16 games before hitting the road, and were coming off a terrific 3-0 shutout victory over Seattle that ended a nine-game win streak for the Kraken – Sullivan replied in the negative.

“I believe in this group. I think we have good players, you know? I believe we have what it takes to win consistently,” he said. “Obviously, we're disappointed with the last four periods. We recognize that it's not our best. But I don't think discouraged is a word that should enter our dressing room. I think we've just got to get more determined.”

The Penguins are turning their focus to finishing strong before the bye week/All-Star Game, with home games on Friday and Saturday against Montreal and Florida.

“We have to make sure that we set the tone early in the games,” Letang said. “Our team plays our best game when we start hard and play a north-south game simple game, not a wait-and-see kind of game. So, we have two games to do that.”