PITTSBURGH — The surreal has become the norm.

In one of the most peculiar, embarrassing weeks in franchise history, the Penguins pulled off the unthinkable by blowing a lead in dramatic fashion for the fourth time in eight days. This time, they lost to the Utah Mammoth 5-4 in overtime Sunday.

“I don’t really know what to say right now,” Rickard Rakell said.

Neither does anyone else.

Not even Sergei Murashov could prevent another Penguins meltdown. In fact, while Murashov was sensational through two periods, he didn’t do his team any favors in the third.

Justin Brazeau, Ben Kindel and Bryan Rust scored to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead through two periods. The Penguins, however, were badly outplayed in those two periods. Some opportunistic offense and some brilliance from Murashov were the only reasons for the 3-0 lead.

Then, disaster struck. Again.

The Mammoth scored twice in the first 82 seconds of the third period, which ushered an immediate feeling of dread into the building. Utah’s first goal was a blown defensive assignment from Rutger McGroarty, who is normally outstanding in his own zone. McGroarty let Nate Schmidt sneak behind him and score on a rebound.

Utah is on the board! pic.twitter.com/XnDaUwKReQ

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 14, 2025

The next goal, scored by Michael Carcone, came courtesy of a Murashov mishap.

Carcs gets one 🔥

3-2, Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/UOpN7Vr8uP

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 14, 2025

In the next four minutes, Sean Durzi evened the score at three and Carcone scored again to give Utah the lead.

Michael Carcone for the lead! But picks up his first @NHL point with the assist!

🚨 4-3, Utah! pic.twitter.com/Ja2EFpEzgY

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 14, 2025

The crowd at PPG Paints Arena showered the Penguins with boos for much of the third period.

Somewhat remarkably, Brazeau scored again to even the score, sending the game to overtime. But overtime, much like protecting leads, has not been the Penguins’ friend. And it wasn’t on this afternoon. Dylan Guenther needed only 42 seconds to take a feed from John Marino and beat Murashov.

Gunner doing what he does best! OT Winner!!! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Q5YsH4DEZO

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 14, 2025

Afterward, the Penguins’ locker room felt about as somber as you’d think.

Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson and Bryan Rust sat there in silence, like they always do after difficult losses. So did Murashov. And Rakell. Two of the team’s prized rookies did, too.

“I don’t know how to say it,” McGroarty said. “Each game is an individual thing. I know the same problems keep happening. They get those two quick ones. I don’t even know. I wouldn’t say there was a pit in our stomach or anything like that. It just made me hungry to go out there and do what you can to make things better. There’s a lot of that in this locker room. We’re all competitors in here. There are a lot of competitive souls in this locker room. And right now, this sucks.”

The Penguins have become a scene from “Groundhog Day” this week.

“We’ve done enough to win games and just haven’t closed it out,” Crosby said. “We just need some plays that are going to do that. Those can be a lot of different things. But we got to get through a game here where we have a lead and close it out.”

Karlsson, always the optimist, doesn’t think all is lost.

“It’s more a mindset right now,” he said. “The good thing about that is it’s controllable. I don’t think it has anything to do with systems or X’s and O’s. It’s within ourselves. We’ve got to find a way to regain that trust individually and as a team.”

10 postgame observations 

• I suspect that a team has never had a week like this in NHL history. That’s no hyperbole. Let’s look at what has happened.

Last Sunday, the Penguins played their best game of the season and led, 2-1, late in Dallas against the outstanding Stars. Then, the Stars tied the game with an empty-net goal and won it in a shootout.

Two days later, the Penguins led Anaheim, 3-2, in a game in which they played quite well. They were given a power play with 18 seconds remaining. As everyone knows by now, 19-year-old Beckett Sennecke then skated through Rust and Kris Letang, and slid a puck toward the net that went off Karlsson’s glove and into the net with precisely 0.1 seconds remaining. Naturally, the Penguins lost in a shootout.

Then, on Thursday, the Penguins’ game against Montreal was delayed by 30 minutes because a traffic accident north of Pittsburgh prevented some of the players from arriving on time. They played one of their worst games of the season in a loss to Montreal.

On Friday, the Penguins traded their No. 1 goaltender, Tristan Jarry, to Edmonton. Later that day, general manager/team president Kyle Dubas, when speaking with the media about the trade, made it very clear that he thinks his Penguins can make the playoffs this spring.

On Saturday, they led 5-1 in the third period against the San Jose Sharks. It was 5-2 with less than six minutes left. They lost in overtime, 6-5.

By the time Sunday rolled around again, the Penguins were already more fragile than a pane of glass. And it showed in their third-period meltdown.

I have never seen anything like it.

• You could absolutely feel it happening in the building. The feeling of dread was everywhere.

That’s what happens when a team is fragile. It rubs off on the fans in the building. Everyone in that building was expecting a meltdown, and they got one.

• The story of the game, though two periods, was Murashov. He was absolutely brilliant in the first two periods.

I visited with former Penguins Ian Cole and Olli Maatta after the game, and both went out of their way to say how impressive Murashov was. The truth is, Utah dominated all day and only Murashov kept the Penguins in the game.

Still, Murashov didn’t look so great in overtime, and certainly didn’t on the second goal. I’m encouraged by what I’m seeing from him. Make no mistake, he’s the future. I’m not so sure he shouldn’t be up for good now. It’s easy to say he shouldn’t be exposed to playing behind these Penguins right now, but I don’t necessarily agree with that. If he’s not mentally tough enough to deal with defensive lapses, then he’s probably not the guy. And I think he is.

Still, he needed to be better in the third period.

• This team’s inability to handle adversity is a real concern. I agree with Karlsson that Xs and Os aren’t really a problem. The Penguins get tighter with a lead than any team I can recall seeing. It’s painfully obvious watching them in their zone some during those moments. And it needs to stop.

• It may have been the worst game of the season for Crosby. He had nothing. Just an off night for him. Fans showed up hoping to see him break Mario Lemieux’s franchise point record of 1.723, but he remains two points behind. His next chance to do it will come on Tuesday against Connor McDavid and the Oilers. Lemieux was in the building on Sunday and is expected to be there on Tuesday.

• Dan Muse looked like a coach feeling a lot of heat following the game.

I refuse to blame him for all of this. The Penguins have been horrible at protecting leads for years. A lot of bad habits. But it’s up to him to figure out, and he better do it quickly.

• Several Penguins’ defensemen have been struggling in recent weeks. The third pairing wasn’t good on Sunday. At all.

Ryan Graves was simply bullied in front of the net when Utah evened the game in the third period. He turned the puck over right before the goal. Just rough.

Durz makes it 3-3!

Things are getting exciting here in Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/vb1fdKQJut

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 14, 2025

• I hated the challenge that Muse made at the conclusion of that play. It reeked of desperation. There was no goalie interference on that play and Utah scored on the subsequent power play, which everyone in the building saw coming.

• Looking for good news? Kindel scored a pretty goal.

Another look at Kindy on a break 🔥

The 3rd period starts now. pic.twitter.com/7sQZM1mehZ

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 14, 2025

Also, while I suspect the Penguins won’t recover from this week, they keep getting points even in their lowest moments. If making the playoffs is the goal, at least that is something.

• Wow. Just wow.

I’m paid to use words to write about hockey games, but it took me a while to figure out what to say about this one. I’ve never seen a week like this. The Penguins looked mentally weak more than anything and the locker room certainly felt rattled. How could it not?

I always joke that the Penguins are never boring, and this has never been more accurate. Some boredom might do them some good at the moment.

“Sometimes we try to go tape to tape,” Rakell said. “But sometimes, you just need to get the puck deep and go to work.”

Correct. The Penguins are off on Monday. No practice. Nothing. It’s time to do some major soul-searching. They aren’t some inferior team on paper. They aren’t getting blown out. They can score with anyone. But what has happened in the third period during the past month is embarrassing.

They had better figure it out, or a feel-good season will have completely imploded sooner rather than later.