The Pittsburgh Penguins have a frustrating trend to snap as they prepare to host the Utah Mammoth on Sunday afternoon.
Due to a 6-5 overtime loss to the visiting San Jose Sharks on Saturday, the Penguins are not only winless in their last four games (0-1-3), but they have surrendered a lead with less than two minutes remaining in all three extra-time defeats.
Losing to the Sharks was the most inglorious of the losses. Pittsburgh surrendered a 5-1 lead with less than 13 minutes remaining in regulation.
“Three of the four, we felt like we did everything but get two points. That’s the unfortunate part of it,” Penguins superstar captain Sidney Crosby said. “We’ve got to find a way to be consistent. We’ve done a lot of good things here in the first 30 games. We’ve got to find a way to close out games.”
Arturs Silovs stopped 26 of 32 shots in the first game since the Penguins sent Tristan Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers in a Friday trade in which Pittsburgh received fellow goaltender Stuart Skinner and defenseman Brett Kulak.
Whether either of Pittsburgh’s newcomers will be able to play on Sunday is uncertain with immigration issues to clear before they can suit up, but that is only a piece of the confusion for the Penguins.
Their skid, part of a 5-4-6 stretch, has resulted in the Penguins falling outside a playoff position.
“There’s no question in my mind that this group can be much better than we are,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “We have to get there, though. We have to be working with them.”
The Mammoth, meanwhile, will kick off a three-game road trip on the heels of snapping a three-game slide with a strong 5-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Friday.
“It’s huge for our confidence to be able to (win one),” said center Nick Schmaltz, who recorded one goal and two assists vs. the Kraken.
“Even though they tied it up (at 2-2), we get one on the power play, and the power play wins it for us. That’s huge for our team and for the power play. Whether they scored or we scored, I thought we managed our emotions pretty well and kept fighting.”
The Mammoth were in dire need of momentum after going into the Seattle clash with seven losses — all in regulation time — in their past nine outings.
Considering that trend, Friday’s game could have gone off the rails when Seattle tied it at 7:50 of the third period. Instead, Dylan Guenther scored a power-play goal just over five minutes later to turn the tide.
“It was an important game,” said Guenther, who has scored in three consecutive games. “Closing out the homestand, losing the first two games. I think it was kind of a must-win, so it was nice to get it.”
The production also is a welcome sign for a club that has been without leading goal scorer Logan Cooley for two months after he was injured while crashing into the net on Dec. 5 vs. Vancouver.
“We keep improving offensively. I liked that part,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “There are things to clean up for us defensively, but I think we’re progressing offensively.”
–Field Level Media
