Sloppy play opens door for another defeat in OT
Overwhelming start launches Carolina’s win
RALEIGH, N.C. — With the way the Penguins started out Saturday night, their latest win against the Hurricanes appears to be quite the aberration.
For the 11th time in 14 meetings, the Penguins fell to the Hurricanes, this time by a 3-2 final in overtime at PNC Arena. Brett Pesce netted the game-winner for Carolina in the extra period, sneaking the puck underneath Tristan Jarry’s blocker and above his right pad.
While the Penguins snapped a five-game losing streak against the Hurricanes in their previous encounter, back-to-back victories were not in store for the visitors, especially not with the way they began the evening against their physical, forechecking hosts. The Penguins’ sloppiness allowed the Hurricanes to register a whopping 12 slot shots on net in the opening 20 minutes per Sportlogiq, and four odd-man rushes.
“They were just better than us,” Lars Eller said. “I don’t know what to say other thanwe didn’t have the puck much, and when we did, we didn’t take very good care of it.”
For the fifth time in six games, the Penguins’ opponent scored first. The Hurricanes netted two goals in the opening period, and it easily could have been many more if not for some stellar goaltending by Jarry, who made 32saves on the night.
He was challenged just 19 seconds into the contest, stonewalling a breakaway chance by Sebastian Aho. Jarry yielded his first two goals in the period, though, with Pesce beating him for the first time over his right shoulder a little over six minutes in.
Jordan Martinook then sneaked the puck through Jarry’s five hole after finding himself alone at the Penguins’ net front. The biscuit wound its way to Martinook’s stick following Chad Ruhwedel’s turnover inthe Penguins’ end.
“In the beginning, we were throwing it away and started hunting pucks when it wasn’t time to,” Erik Karlsson said. “And that plays right into what they want to do, and that’s the way that they want to play.”
The Penguins ramped it up in the second, but it mattered little as the Penguins’ power play was as disjointed as it’s been all season. Karlsson skated into Rickard Rakell at one point, and Evgeni Malkin banged his stick against the bench for the second time in as many games.
Coach Mike Sullivan’s extra-skater attack finished 0 for 4, possessing the puck less than a third of the time when it was in the Hurricanes’ end.
“It’s not good enough right now,” Sullivan said. “It hasto be better.”
But of course, Sidney Crosby put the Hurricanes’ supporters on edge in the third. Carolina netminder Antti Raanta made a miraculous glove save on the captain while doing the splits, but couldn’t prevent Crosby from finding Guentzel for a goal that trimmed the Penguins’ deficit in half.
Then for the second time in as many games, the Penguins were able to score with Jarry pulled. Bryan Rust punched in a rebound off a Karlsson shot for the gametying goal with 53 seconds to go, guaranteeing the Penguins a loser’s point for the second time in as many nights.
“It was a big point for us, a point that somewhat we deserve,” Karlsson said. “But at the same time, I think [Jarry] gave us the chance to even be in that position.
“So, it was tough to lose in OT, but sometimes that’s the way it is.”
Bonus hockey has been giving the Penguins trouble all season, though. The Penguins are 3-6 when a game goes beyond regulation, with three consecutive defeats.
Karlsson noted it’s tough for a team to win in overtime when it doesn’t control the puck, which the Penguins did for all of 13 seconds in the extra period that lasted less than two minutes.
Certainly, lots of luck goes into determining who wins in overtime. But Karlsson alluded to there being ways the Penguins can better position themselves in critical contests such as Saturday’s against a Metropolitan division foe.
“I have my theories,” Karlsson said. “But I’ll keep it to myself.”
Ice chips
• Reilly Smith missed his firstgame as a Penguin due to the upper-body injury he sustained during Thursday night’s game against the VancouverCanucks.
• With Smith shelved on a “longer-term” basis, according to Sullivan, the Penguins recalled forward Colin White from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In a corresponding move, defenseman Ryan Shea was reassigned to the team’s American Hockey League affiliate.
•White made his Penguins debut on the Penguins’ fourth line. He was active because Noel Acciari was a late scratch due to an upper-body injury that Sullivan said has him on a day-to-day basis. In Thursday’s game, Acciari blocked one shot with his back and another with his righthand.
• Radim Zohorna drew back into the Penguins’ starting lineup at left wing on Eller’s line with Smith sidelined. It was his first appearance of 2024, as he’d been a healthy scratch since Dec. 30.
• After the second period, Sullivan switched Rakell onto Malkin’s line and bumped Rust up to Crosby’s
Stat n’at 13
— Consecutive scoreless power-play opportunities for the Penguins. Their power play conversion rate ranks 26th in the league
They said it
“Obviously tonight, everybody could probably tell was not our best,” Karlsson said. “Especially the first period.”
Coming up
The Penguins are slated to practice Sunday afternoon in Cranberry. Up next on the slate is Monday’s matinee meeting with the Kraken on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.