The Pittsburgh Penguins started their five-game road trip when they rallied in the third period with two late goals, but ultimately fell 5-4 in the shootout against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night at the Lenovo Center.
“We’re a resilient team,” Stuart Skinner said. “We’ve got guys in here who will do whatever it takes to win games and to get a point. We’re in March now, against a team that’s really hard to beat in their building. The fact that we came back on them is impressive to say the least.”
Before the game, Head Coach Dan Muse announced that forward Justin Brazeau will be week-to-week with an upper body injury and defenseman Sam Girard is day-to-day with an upper body injury.
The Hurricanes started the game with energy as they carried the momentum throughout the first several minutes of the opening period.
Carolina would find a way to get on the board first after a loose puck in front of Skinner made it to the stick of Logan Stankoven, who buried the rebound for his 12th goal of the season.
“I think when you’re playing against really good teams, there’s going to be momentum swings here and there,” Bryan Rust said. “You obviously want to maximize yours, and minimize theirs.”
The Penguins were able to build momentum as the period went along. Ville Koivunen, who had an assist and was a +3 last game against Boston, set up Anthony Mantha with 56 seconds left in the period to tie the game 1-1.
Mantha’s 24th goal of the season tied his career-high total for points in a single season (48), and he is now one goal away from tying his career-high in goals (25) that he set with Detroit in 2018-19.
While the Penguins were able to begin the second period with two straight power-play opportunities, it was the Hurricanes who got the scoring chances. Shorthanded, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis were each stopped in quick succession by Skinner.
“We lost the game, but without (Skinner), we would probably lose by three goals if it weren’t for some of the saves that he made,” Ryan Shea said. “We just have to start playing better defense when he’s in the net, and he’s given us everything that he has.”
The Hurricanes would continue to find themselves in more penalty trouble as the second period went along, giving the Penguins four-straight man advantages. This time, Pittsburgh was able to convert after Bryan Rust lifted a shot over the shoulder of Andersen and into the net for a 2-1 lead.
Tensions and emotions began to build between the two teams as the game went on. Noel Acciari and Alexander Nikishin each got tangled up with each other and were both sent to the penalty box for roughing.
“In games like this, it’s kind of a playoff environment,” Skinner said. “There’s a lot of momentum shifts, and you’ve got to be able to make sure that you’re doing your best to kind of control that. I think the way we played shows that we did.”
Through 40 minutes of play, Skinner stopped 24 of 25 shots and stood tall for the Penguins as he stopped numerous high-danger scoring chances from the Hurricanes, both at even strength and short-handed.
However, the Hurricanes capitalized on some of those opportunities at the start of the 3rd period, as Mark Jankowski and Jarvis scored two goals less than a minute apart to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead.
“You can’t let that slip,” Rust said. “They’re a team that plays extremely hard. If you take a half second off, they can get behind you and make you pay.”
This time, it would be the Penguins who found themselves in penalty trouble as they were faced with a five-on-three penalty kill for 29 seconds midway through the third period. After working the puck around the perimeter, Nikishin added to his team’s lead when he scored off a one-timer.
“We were on our heels and letting them dictate the speed,” Muse said. “I thought we got away from the things that were working in the second period.”
As time started to tick down, the Penguins regrouped and pulled Skinner for the extra attacker. Rust centered a pass to Noel Acciari, who was able to redirect the puck past Anderson and in. With 35 seconds left, Rust scored his second goal of the game off a rebound from Erik Karlsson’s point shot.
“We certainly don’t give up in this room,” Rust said. “It says a lot about the guys in here.”
With the current absences of Captain Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, several players on the team have said that it will take a collective effort to fill in while those two are out. In the last seven games, Rust (4G-5A) and Karlsson (2G-6A) each have nine points.
In overtime, the Penguins were able to get a 4-on-3 power play, but were unable to score on Andersen. As the penalty expired, the Hurricanes got an odd-man rush, but a sliding play by Mantha blocked the cross-ice pass.
“Obviously, the power play in overtime, and the shootout, again,” Rust said. “After we’ve had that game, it was ours to take. I just don’t think that we took it.”
Ben Kindel scored for the Penguins, but Andre Svechnikov and Jackson Blake each scored for the Hurricanes in the shootout to secure the win.
“We were able to score a goal (in the shootout), which was massive,” Skinner said. “It gave us a chance. I just had to make one more save just to get it going, or make two and win the game. It’s a tough position.”
The Penguins will continue on their road trip as they have a day off tomorrow and will face the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
“I mean, that’s really hard to do,” Skinner said on the team tying the game late. “Huge credit to those guys. We battled hard all night. You could tell that it was a division game, and a huge point for us. This group should be very proud.”
