Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Utah Hockey Club are in the same boat as they prepare to meet Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
Both clubs are on a slide and well aware that it’s time to change their fortunes or else risk spiraling away from the playoff picture.
Both also head into the clash knowing they missed an opportunity last time out.
The Penguins, who are riding a three-game skid and have won only three of 14 outings (3-8-3), are coming off a 2-1 road defeat against the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
“It is a game of mistakes, and right now, we are making the ones that are hurting us,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. “That’s how it is going, and we’ve got to find a way to change that.”
Crosby tied the game 24 seconds into the third period, but the Penguins could not pull ahead against a Sharks team that is at the bottom of the standings and possesses the league’s worst goals-against average.
Adding to Pittsburgh’s frustration was that Drew O’Connor could not convert a penalty shot midway through the final frame.
“When you have the opportunity for a penalty shot, you have to find a way to put it in,” O’Connor said.
Goals have been especially hard to come by for the Penguins. They have been held to a single tally in each of their past three outings.
“We’ve had a lot of looks the last few games and haven’t necessarily been scoring,” O’Connor said. “It can be frustrating when that happens, so just have to find a way to regroup and get the next one. I think the last few games, we’ve done a lot of good things. We haven’t gotten the result.”
Utah returns home after taking a 3-1 road loss against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday, a clash that was tied 1-1 going into the third period.
“We played good until we gave up the second goal,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think we were stingy defensively. It’s a team that’s really good defensively, as well, but we created off of our forecheck, off of our intensity, and we had enough offense. Unfortunately, we made a mistake when they scored the second goal and that threw us off a little bit. I didn’t like the way we responded to that.”
Utah has lost two straight games, both of which were tied in the final frame, and has managed only five wins in the past 17 outings (5-10-2).
Clayton Keller scored a goal on Sunday, extending his point streak to seven games (four goals, nine assists). However, Utah was unable to find the go-ahead tally.
“We generated enough chances. We had two breakaways,” Tourigny said. “We could’ve pulled away, but we didn’t, so you need to stay with it and be patient. We’re on the road, it’s 1-1 after two. We need to find a way to get a point.”
Now Utah opens a four-game homestand, and it must build on a sub-par record at the Delta Center, where the team has an 8-11-4 mark. On a positive note in that regard, Utah has won two straight at home.
“We’ve just got to have the confidence and swagger,” defenseman Olli Maatta told the Salt Lake Tribune. “Just trusting our game.”
When the teams met on Nov. 23 in Pittsburgh, Utah prevailed 6-1 behind two goals and an assists from Dylan Guenther.
–Field Level Media
