"I thought we dominated a lot of the game," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "We just couldn't find a way to score more goals, but there was a lot to like about our effort tonight. I thought for the most part it was pretty solid."
Some credit belongs to Senators goaltender Craig Anderson, who turned aside 35 of those 36 shots against. But the Pens also had a number of missed opportunities.
Zach Aston-Reese and Bryan Rust both had the puck on their respective stick with a vacant net at which to shoot. Both fired just wide. And defenseman Jack Johnson had nearly an entire open cage as Anderson lay prone on the ice. Yet, somehow Anderson was able to get his stick on Johnson's shot.
Another self-infliction, though less noticeable, was Pittsburgh's propensity to attempt an extra pass on plays when a shot would have sufficed.
"We had a lot of opportunities to shoot and we passed it up," Sullivan said. "Sometimes our team is guilty of that because we're always looking for that next play."
The Pens took three penalties in the third period with the game tied at 1-1. Despite the circumstances, Pittsburgh's penalty kill was able to successfully defend all three scenarios.
Which makes the overtime winner, scored against the Pens' PK unit, a bitter result.
More bitter though, was Evgeni Malkin stepping onto the ice too early in overtime to try and get a breakaway opportunity. Jake Guentzel hadn't fully made it to the bench and Pittsburgh was whistled for a too-many-men penalty.
The result was the winning goal.
Malkin took full responsibility of the play.
"I saw we had the puck and I wanted to jump and get a breakaway," Malkin said. "Maybe I need to wait one second. It should be a penalty. It's my mistake."
While there are many positives to take from this loss, the lesson remains the same.
"I think we can give ourselves a better chance in the third by staying out of the box, and the same thing in overtime," captain Sidney Crosby said. "We did a lot of good things, but you can't expect to win close games putting yourself in that position time and time again."
