Snap Shots: Canes 3, Pens 2 (SO)
* This was another heartbreaking loss for the Pens after their 2-1 overtime loss to Philly on Sunday. Tonight, they blew a late lead for a second straight game along with a second point in the standings.
"It's not good, obviously," goalie Matt Murray said afterward. "But we've got to take the positives out of it. We played well, so it's tough. It's heartbreaking, but we've got to get the next one."
As expected, it was a tight, playoff-like game, where the Pens carried play for much of the final frame. It was their best period of the game, and they got rewarded with 4:37 left to play with Kris Letang scored to give his team a 2-1 lead. However, the Hurricanes pulled goalie Petr Mrazek - who played fantastic and came up with clutch saves all night - for the extra attacker, and ended up tying the game with 1:56 left.
After that, the Pens got into some penalty trouble - Jack Johnson went to the box with 1:44 left to play, and Letang was given a two-minute minor and a 10-minute misconduct 2:56 into overtime. And while the Pens were able to battle through and kill off those calls, the Canes ended up winning in the shootout.
The Canes are now two points behind the Pens in the standings with two games in hand. Pittsburgh is in 3rd place in the Metro Division with 89 points and Carolina is in the 1st Wild Card slot with 87 points.
"They fought back," Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said. "You've got to give them credit. They're a good team. It was a hard-fought game."
* Tonight marked the second straight game the Pens gave up a 6-on-5 goal. Overall, they have given up seven such goals this season, which has resulted in a number of tough and disappointing losses - especially as the Pens need every point they can get as they battle for a playoff spot.
"They're all different," Sullivan said. "This one was off a faceoff. It was a scramble. The puck is bouncing everywhere. It's not like we can identify one thing. We'd like to believe that we can defend leads better. We have in the past for a long time and been very good at it. So I know we're capable. But having said that, I thought it was a hard-fought point for us tonight."
The Pens coach was asked if he thought his players were losing confidence with all of these blown late leads.
"No," Sullivan said. "I think this team is a battle-tested group. They've been through a lot. So I don't worry about that."
* Overall, Sullivan said that Letang was "great all night" in his return to the lineup after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury.
As Sullivan said this morning, the blue line has done a terrific job without him, but they're a better team when he's in the lineup. He's such an elite player and such an impact player who brings such a commanding presence to the ice.
Letang felt like he hit his stride early in the season and was building on it at the time of his injury, so it was especially frustrating for him to be sidelined. But as per usual, Letang looked like he picked up right where he left off despite missing almost a month, scoring a huge goal and finishing with 26:45 minutes of ice time.
However, because of the 10-minute misconduct, Letang wasn't allowed to participate in the shootout. Which hurt the Pens, as he is one of their best shootout guys.
* Tonight, Phil Kessel skated in his 320th consecutive game since joining the Penguins - moving him past Craig Adams for the longest games played streak in franchise history.
"It's a tough league and it's a fast game. It says a lot," Matt Cullen said. "I mean, he loves the game, we all love him, obviously, and it's pretty cool. He'll downplay it, but it's a big deal."
Overall, Kessel has dressed for 766 straight games. That's the eighth-longest games played streak in NHL history.
